Perhaps nobody has bought more Zaide Lowery stock than Shaka Smart.

The Marquette men’s basketball head coach trusted him as a first-year as a go-to bench option in some of the Golden Eagles’ toughest moments. And this year, given Marquette’s losses of Tyler Kolek and Oso Ighodaro and Smart’s bet-on-his-guys approach to roster construction, Lowery will occupy an even bigger role.

Smart doesn’t mince his words when talking about what this means for the sophomore guard.

“The way we do things here, a guy who averaged two points a game, or five points a game or seven points a game, we’re counting on him to do this year, what maybe one of our conference contemporaries is counting on a guy who averaged 16 points a game somewhere else to do,” Smart said Wednesday.

“Zaide Lowery averaged two points a game last year, and he’s going to have a critical role on our team. That means we better have been working our tail off in the last several months, since March 29, to help him get better. And then we better continue working.”

This doesn’t mean, however, that Smart doesn’t have faith Lowery can meet the expectations being set of him, however lofty in nature.

“He plays the starring role in that growth and that success,” Smart said.

‘Working on my shot’

Lowery understands what Smart is saying.

He is well aware he will be called upon to provide more offensively. He also knows the Golden Eagles are going to be in a world of hurt if he fails to provide more offensively.

“Something I’ve really been focusing on is just staying in the gym, working on my shot, finishing,” he said.

While Lowery still views his versatile defense as his main role and something he’s “going to take a big jump in” this season, he is keen on building off the 1.6 points per game on 32.7% shooting he averaged last year. So this offseason, in order to make sure those numbers don’t repeat, he honed in on becoming more impactful on the offensive end.

That started with taking advantage of his 6-foot-5 frame and former-wide-receiver athleticism to become a better downhill attacker.

“Coach Nevada [Smith] and coach Smart will keep track of how many paint touches I have in each practice,” Lowery said. “And I think it’s super important because if you can get to the paint and be able to kick out to your good shooters and scorers, when you drive the ball, everybody collapses.

“So just being able to get downhill and making the right rim decision. If they don’t help, and I have an angle to finish, that’s something I’ve also been working on.”

For the new-look Golden Eagles — who will be starting 6-foot-11 3-point danger Ben Gold along with Kam Jones, Stevie Mitchell, (likely) Chase Ross and David Joplin — being able to penetrate and kick to the outside is not only going to be a point of emphasis but also a game-changer.

“The best type of threes are after you’ve gotten penetration and then kicked it out and a guy’s wide open, stepping in for three,” Smart said. “We want paint touches, but certainly we want to utilize the fact that every guy in our lineup is a threat to make threes. And with Ben starting at that trigger spot, that certainly gives us a real threat.”

Lowery benefitting from Smart’s confidence

Lowery views his relationship with Smart as something more than just a player-coach dynamic. Growing up with three sisters and a mom, Smart has occupied a role that Lowery was not used to as a kid.

“He kind of stepped in as a father figure,” Lowery said last season.

Through this offseason, that connection has only further blossomed.

“He has the highest standard for me,” Lowery said. “And I think that changes being able to have the relationship I do with him. We have meetings all the time about, like, what I need to do and what he expects from me this year.”

Lowery admits that he didn’t used to hold himself to the “highest standard” — at least not one anywhere close to Smart’s.

“The high standard that (Smart) has for me, I really do appreciate that,” he said. “I haven’t been anywhere, whether it’s high school or my prep school that I went to, I’ve never really had a coach that has set that standard for me that high.”

Smart’s wisdom has worked, though.

“The confidence, it wasn’t super high last year, and it was kind of hard,” Lowery said. “So just talking to him every day, him telling me that I’m a big part of this team and I can help win, really gave me the confidence in practice.

“And it’s been showing.”

This article was written by Jack Albright. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @JackAlbrightMU.