Al Amadou made a name for himself last year as a 6-foot-9 big man who would come off the bench in the dying moments of a blowout and rile the crowd up with an explosive dunk.

So, when Marquette men’s basketball turned its season-opener against Stony Brook into blowout territory, there was a reason to expect Amadou would see the floor.

But instead, the sophomore forward stayed in his warm-ups for the entire 40 minutes.

That’s because Amadou, a multi-year development project of head coach Shaka Smart, is redshirting this season.

“He’s shown some real glimpses in practice,” Smart said. “His best basketball is still ahead of him. So that’s what we’re planning on.”

Damarius Owens injury update

First-year Damarius Owens, as expected, didn’t play Monday night.

Owens injured his toe in a preseason closed-door scrimmage against Oklahoma Oct. 26, and spent the first game of the season on the bench with a boot on his foot.

Damarius Owens is wearing a boot on his right leg. Last we heard from Smart, Owens was going to miss tonight and he “may be out for a while.” #mubb

Owens injured his toe in a closed door scrimmage against Oklahoma. pic.twitter.com/DNKugBE9Vw

— Jack Albright (@JackAlbrightMU) November 5, 2024

Smart didn’t have a timetable for his return.

“He may be back relatively soon. It’s a unique injury that he has,” Smart said. “And so the first thing is getting his pain back down to where he’s comfortable going out there and playing.

“Initially we were concerned that he was going to be out long term this season. And there may be a chance that he may be back sooner.”

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