Beginning Monday, June 21st, 2004 CHN began unveiling 144 Team previews in 144 Days. CHN ranked the nations top 144 teams, and is unveiling one per day leading up until the opening day of the 2004-05 Season.

Bookmark the 144 Teams in 144 Days home page, and check back each day to see which team is previewed next.

#57 Marquette Golden Eagles
CUSA
2003-04: 19-12, 8-8, 8th
2003-04 postseason: NIT

By Joel Welser

Travis Diener didn’t get too much help last year, which resulted in  the Golden Eagles disappointing 8th place finish in the conference.  Along with Diener; Steve Novak and Dameon Mason provide a solid returning nucleus for Tom Crean’s squad.  Other players need to become scorers.  Guard Joe Chapman has the ability and senior forwards Todd Townsend and Marcus Jackson may see an increased role this year. 

Who’s Out: Scott Merritt, a 6-10 forward, averaged 11.2 points and a team high 7.1 rebounds last year.  He was a consistent scorer throughout his career at Marquette and some newcomers will have to try and take his place.  Terry Sanders is another forward who will be tough to replace.  Sanders averaged 6.4 points and 4.6 rebounds as a senior.  Karon Bradley didn’t see many minutes as a sophomore, despite playing in 26 games.  The 5-11 guard is transferring to Wichita State.  Carlton Christian is transferring to Central Florida after his freshman campaign at Marquette.  The 6-5 guard averaged just 7.7 minutes in 22 games last season.

Who’s In: All three of the newcomers should see some quality minutes in the frontcourt.  They need to step up and help replace the absent Merritt and Sanders.  Ousmane Barro can put up Merritt-like rebounding numbers.  At 6-10 and 230 pounds, he can battle underneath the basket for the tough rebounds.  Barro lacks game experience, but his work ethic will make him an impact player in the long run.  Ryan Amoroso, at 6-8 and 240, is another big man who could help out immediately.  He isn’t the most athletic player on the floor, but is a solid scorer.  Amoroso’s range is proficient for a man his size and he’ll step back behind the arc without a problem.  He needs to get stronger in order to battle under the basket.  After redshirting at Rice because of an injury as a freshman, Mike Kinsella played at Minneapolis Tech for a year before heading to Milwaukee.  The 7-footer averaged 17.6 points, 10.4 rebounds and 1.3 blocks at Minneapolis Tech last year and is expected to step in immediately for the Golden Eagles.

Who to Watch: Travis Diener and Steve Novak will be solid players as they have proven over the last couple years.  The key will be sophomore swingman Dameon Mason.  Last year the 6-5 Aurora, Illinois native averaged 9.0 points and 4.5 rebounds.  Mason started the last 17 games for Tom Crean and was becoming a major player for Marquette.  Mason scored in double digits in 11 of the last 18 games of the season and is poised to continue that success.  Mason scored the eighth most points as a freshman in Marquette history.  Everybody will know Dameon’s name in a year or two.

Projected Conference Rank: Travis Diener will do his best as a senior to make another trip to the big dance.  Getting 6th place in the conference is an improvement and enough to be on the bubble come February.  A lot will depend on the freshmen though and the Golden Eagles could be back in the NIT once again.

Projected Post-season Tournament: NIT

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Email Joel Welser: jwelser_chn@ameritech.net

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