Looking Forward to UMBC

I am a senior at Marquette and love the Golden Eagles. Yes, they played horrible on Saturday's game against Madison, but it was still a fun game. Being at the Bradley Center surrounding by hundreds of your classmates all cheering for the same cause is exciting. I know when I graduate I am going to be proud to say I am a Marquette Alumni and as sad as it may be, most people will know exactly what school I am talking about due to our basketball team. After our trip to the Final Four, application to Marquette rose astronomically and our reputation continued to rise. The basketball team's success has pushed Marquette into a national stage and allowed us to join the Big East Conference http://gomarquette.cstv.com/athletic-dept/from-the-ad.html . Being in the spot light, we have also been able to depict Marquette as a great intellectual institution as well as a formidable basketball opponent.

I am excited for the rest of the season and hope that we do make it to the NCAA tournament again this year, but if we don't it will be OK because we will have enjoyed each regular season game regardless. To buy tickets for upcoming games go to....
http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/07003D499BB53F5D?artistid=845508&majorcatid=10004&minorcatid=7

Hello from Tom Crean

"I am always moved by how supportive our fans are to us. We have the best fans in the nation and we are so grateful for their encouragement. That sea of gold in the student section truly is our 6th man out on the court. I want to thank all of you who came out and cheered us on at the Madison game. I was thrilled to see everyone lined up outside so early. We hope to make you proud with the rest of the season. Thanks again for supporting your Golden Eagles."--Tom

Tom Crean is in his eighth season as the head men's basketball coach at Marquette University and he has positioned the program among the elite in college basketball.

In his seven seasons, Marquette has averaged 20 wins a year, won a conference championship and made six postseason appearances, including the 2003 Final Four, the program's third appearance all-time and first since 1977. Read more about all his accomplishments at...

http://gomarquette.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/crean_tom01.html

Marquette University and men's basketball coach Tom Crean reached an agreement a few months ago on a contract extension through the 2016-2017. This 10 year agreement is virtually unheard of in the college basketball arena. Reason for this agreement was voiced by Father Wild who stated that, "Marquette is proud to have attracted and to be able to retain a coach of Tom Crean's quality. Tom reflects the values of our university - in excellence, leadership and service - not only through the basketball program but in who he is and in how he contributes to both the university and the community."
Read more about the deal at...http://marquette.rivals.com/content.asp?cid=585545

The Big Three

Wesley Matthews, Jerel McNeal and Dominic James have been dubbed the 'Big Three' on Marquette's Team. They have been named by ESPN as one of the best back courts in the nation, a threat to all teams.

http://insider.espn.go.com/ncb/insider/news/story?id=2613190&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fncb%2finsider%2fnews%2fstory%3fid%3d2613190

They have a tough remaining schedule in fromt of them....and the hopes of returning to the NCAA tournamnet hanging over their heads.

Here are the next top five games to watch the 'Big Three' perform:

Syracuse (January 7 @Bradley Center)
Due to a Big East scheduling quirk last season, Marquette will get its first look at charter conference member Syracuse since it joined the league.
Louisville (February 17 @Bradley Center)Heading into this season, Marquette's dropped three straight to the Cardinals and with this year's first matchup in Louisville, that number could very likely stand at four in a row by the time these two rivals meet again in mid February.
Notre Dame (February 24 @South Bend)
This is always one of Marquette's biggest rivals...two Jesuit schools battleing it out on the basketball court.
Pittsburgh (March 3 @Bradley Center)
Senior Day sees Marquette bid farewell to Mike Kinsella and Jamil Lott.

For more details on these games visit...
http://collegebasketball.rivals.com/content.asp?SID=1146&CID=589708

Dominic James--The face of the Marquette Team

The number on Dominic James' jersey says it all. He was named 2005-06 BIG EAST Rookie of the Year and he is already, just eight games into the season, performing at a higher level than he did in his rookie year. He leads the Marquette Team in scoring and assists.... http://gomarquette.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/james_dominic00.html.

But James is not unfamiliar with the spot light. He grew up in Richmond, Indiana where basketball is bigger than football. In high school he finished runner-up for 2005 Indiana Mr. Basketball and was named to the 2005 Indiana Boys All-State first team. He has had pressure on him to perform in front of huge crowds, so the Bradley Center doesn't phase him.

ESPN analyst Dick Vitale has dubbed James, "King James" because he is proving to be the nations best point guard. There is even talk that he will enter the NBA draft after just two seasons with the Golden Eagles... http://www.nbadraft.net/admincp/profiles/dominicjames.html.
We all hope that he decided to stay at Marquette for a few more seasons, as his talent is needed on this Golden Eagle team.

Could we have looked any worse?

I can't believe how horrible we played on Saturday. We were favored to win...it is just such a disappointment. We shot from only 39 percent from the field and made 3 of our 18 three-point range attempts. I've seen us play at a much higher level, for example against Duke we looked like one of the best teams in the nation. On Saturday we looked like a high school basketball team that had trouble making free throws. I almost guarantee after that embarrassing performance we won't even be ranked. Look at ESPN to find out where we stand later this week http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/rankings?poll=2&week=6.

On the positive side though, the crowd was great. With 19,020 people in attendance at the game, it marked the largest crowd ever to see a college basketball game in the state of Wisconsin. http://www.sportsnetwork.com/default.asp?c=sportsnetwork&page=cbask/news/AEN4053269.htm
It was amazing to see so many students come out for the game, the student section was completely full and was definitely a sea of gold.

I'm hoping that in our next game against UMBC we look like the team I saw play against Duke.