Nobody needs to tell Shaka Smart this year has been a major letdown.
Marquette men’s basketball is 9-18 overall and 4-12 in conference play. The Golden Eagles have lost all 12 of their games outside of Fiserv Forum. Barring a miracle Big East tournament title run, they will easily miss the Big Dance for the first time since Smart took over.
He knows just as well as anyone Marquette’s 2025-26 has not been up to standard, and fans, administrators and boosters alike all demand more. Understanding that, Smart appears to be making changes to his roster construction methods.
This off-season could very well be the first time Smart adds a transfer since April 2022, after spurning it four consecutive years to prioritize internal development. It is a change of tune for the portal-dodging Smart, who has famously zagged while the college basketball world zigged.
“I said evolving because it’s not a thing in the future, it’s right now,” Smart said Wednesday after Marquette’s 76-70 loss to St. John’s. “And I think part of that evolution is understanding that rosters are just built differently — even two, three years ago — than they have in the past.”
Smart has never explicitly stated that he is anti-portal, just that he prefers to reward players who have worn ‘Marquette’ across their chests.
“We made a decision four years ago, after my first season here, to not take any Division I transfers,” Smart said. “Obviously, it went the worst this year of the four.”
This season, those rewards have not led to enough wins.
“To be 100% honest, we had some older guys we thought would maybe be able to do more for various reasons,” Smart said.
Assuming Smart does dip into the portal, he will be looking for players to complement the Golden Eagles’ promising young core of first-years Nigel James Jr. and Adrien Stevens, and sophomore Royce Parham. Marquette has been plagued by its inability to perform in clutch-time situations, so adding older, more experienced players who can better handle those high-pressure moments should help the budding youngsters.
“One thing that as we evolve does not change, our biggest emphasis, is the really talented, high-character young guys on our team, retention of them,” Smart said. “That’s the most important thing. But, then certainly around them, we have to look at what’s best for Marquette basketball and our roster.
“I’m actually excited about that now.”
The Golden Eagles have one open scholarship position next year after the mid-season departure of Zaide Lowery, and more spots could open up with departures.
“I’m excited to see how we can continue to improve our team in different ways,” Smart said.
This story was written by Jack Albright. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @JackAlbrightMU.
