The 2009-’10 Marquette men’s basketball season was always expected to be something of a rebuilding season.
However, with a talented crop of incoming freshman, a senior on the edge of stardom and a Big East that saw many of its top players graduate or move on to the NBA, the Golden Eagles’ drop in the standings might not have been as drastic as first thought.
But following a rash of injuries and departures, the Golden Eagles once again look to be in a dire situation.
The most recent of these roster changes came with the injury to freshman point guard Junior Cadougan. The 6-foot-1, 205-pound heir apparent to Dominic James injured his Achilles tendon Thursday during a conditioning session. The injury will require surgery and a four-to-six month rehabilitation, likely holding Cadougan out for the entire upcoming season.
“It’s really hard to lose a teammate like Junior,” swingman Jimmy Butler said. “He’s a real good player — very, very unselfish.”
With Cadougan gone, coach Buzz Williams will rely primarily on senior point guard Maurice Acker.
Acker announced on June 25 that he would not be returning to the Golden Eagles for his senior season, citing academics as the reason. Then, on Aug. 29 it was confirmed that he reversed course and rejoined the team.
The team is fortunate he did now that Cadougan is lost for the season.
“We’re very lucky to bring Maurice back,” senior forward Lazar Hayward said. “Without him here it would have been pretty hard moving along.”
Acker filled in admirably for Dominic James last season when the star broke his foot late last season. In seven games starting in place of James, Acker averaged 5.3 points, 2.7 assists and 2 rebounds per game, and most importantly, he appeared to earn Williams’ trust.
“Basically he’s just telling me to be ready,” Acker said. “Be ready to play more minutes than you expected.”
Senior David Cubillan, who appeared to fall out of Williams’ favor last season, also figures to see increased playing time as a result of Cadougan’s injury. Cubillian lacks the ball handling and decision making skills to play the point full time. At 6-foot, 175 pounds, he is also undersized for a Big East shooting guard.
Williams also brought in juco transfer Dwight Buycks, who at 6-foot-3 is also capable of playing the point but by all indications was intended to play two-guard and take over much of the scoring lost without the Big Three.
Finally, sophomore guard Darius Johnson-Odom, a transfer from Hutchinson Community College, also has some point guard skills but is expected to miss at least a month after injuring his foot in workouts.
“I think we’re still pretty good depth wise,” Hayward said. “We still have four guys at those two spots. So it will be a pretty good rotation there.”
If Marquette showed anything from last season, it is that the team will figure out a way to win with the guys it has. That being said, the loss of Cadougan is a major hit for a program already in the midst of rebuilding.
Hayward, for his part, doesn’t think the injury changes what the opposition thinks of the team.“I don’t think they’re seeing any difference,” Hayward said. “What the media views us as is: we won’t win much. They don’t know. They don’t see what we do here every day.”
