Last year, Paint Touches started a Twitter campaign to bring Dwyane Wade to Marquette Madness using the hashtag #BringWadeToMadness.

The topic started trending among students, athletes and alumni until it was fulfilled when Wade walked onto the court at the Al McGuire Center.

Madness 2012 needs just as special of a guest. We have all seen Wade make a return.

Steve Novak has worked out with the men’s lacrosse team and visited with the New York Knicks last spring.

Darius Johnson-Odom and Jae Crowder could return after their senior year much like Jimmy Butler did. But I’m thinking about a guest that has not been seen for a while on the Marquette scene.

William Gates played basketball for the Warriors under coach Kevin O’Neill from 1991 to 1995 and was the subject of the 1994 documentary “Hoop Dreams.” He was a highly touted recruit coming of high school, but a knee injury sidelined him in his junior year of high school and then came back to haunt him at Marquette towards the end of his career.

In 1994, the Warriors reached the Sweet 16, but Gates could not play. Yet he remained on scholarship throughout his time with the team. The film has been called one of the greatest of the ’90s by critics like Roger Ebert and in its own way helped Marquette’s recruiting by showing how much care was given to the injured prospect.

Gates graduated from Marquette and went on to work as a real estate agent. Recently, he was tracked down as a pastor at the Living Faith Community Center in Cabrini Green in Chicago.

He may have never reached the NBA, but remains close to the basketball community while following his son around on the AAU circuit.

A hashtag may not capture Joseph Kony, but it certainly could help bring a subtle hero back to Marquette on October 12th. Tweet it out: #BringGatesToMadness