Junior guard Markus Howard will return for his senior season, he tweeted Friday morning.
“Unfinished business,” Howard tweeted. “Looking forward to next season with this team.”
The Chandler, Arizona native was BIG EAST Player of the Year and an Associated Press All-American last season averaging 25 points per game.
His lack of height and turnover issues hurt his NBA Draft stock significantly. NBADraft.net projected him as a second-round pick because of his outstanding shooting.
His return puts him in position to become the men’s basketball program’s all-time leading scorer. He stands 30 points short of tying former star Jerel McNeal’s 1,985 points. McNeal graduated from Marquette in 2009.
He needs 45 points to become the second Marquette basketball player to score 2,000 points. Women’s basketball senior standout Allazia Blockton became the first after scoring her 2,000th career point Jan. 25 against Xavier.
With Howard returning, many national college basketball sites include Marquette in their early rankings for next season. ESPN has the Golden Eagles as No. 2 and NBC Sports has them at No. 4, but with recent news of Sam and Joey Hauser transferring out of Marquette, the Golden Eagles rank will almost surely drop.
Fellow guards Koby McEwen and Greg Elliott will be coming off redshirt years.
Some of Howard’s “unfinished business” will likely include striving to win Marquette’s first NCAA Tournament game since 2012. The Golden Eagles also have never advanced past the BIG EAST Tournament semifinals.