Marquette Golden Eagles



The Marquette Golden Eagles, formerly known as the Marquette Warriors, Blue and Gold, Hilltoppers, and Golden Avalanche (football only), are the athletic teams representing Marquette University. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (non-football sub-level), primarily competing in the Big East Conference for all sports since the 2005-06 season. The Golden Eagles previously competed in Conference USA (C-USA) from 1995-96 to 2004-05, the Great Midwest Conference from 1991-92 to 1994-95 and the Horizon League from 1988-89 to 1990-91. They also competed as an Independent from 1916-17 to 1987-88. Men's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, tennis and track & field; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, lacrosse, soccer, tennis, track & field and volleyball.

Marquette's athletic teams participate at the NCAA Division I level and are members of the Big East Conference. The men's basketball team was the 1976-77 NCAA National Champion, a 1974 NCAA finalist, the 1970 National Invitation Tournament Champion, and a 2003 Final Four participant.

On December 15, 2012, Marquette and the other six Catholic, non-FBS Big East schools (the so-called "Catholic 7") announced that they were departing the Big East for a new conference. In March 2013, it was confirmed that the "Catholic 7", along with three other schools, would begin operations that July as a new Big East Conference.

Men's basketball
The men's basketball team is ninth in the NCAA for postseason appearances all-time (45), including 30 NCAA Tournament appearances (T-11th all time). The Warriors, coached by Al McGuire, won the 1977 NCAA Tournament and were runners-up in 1974. Maurice "Bo" Ellis was a member of each of those teams, and remains the only Marquette player to appear in two Final Fours.

In 2003 Marquette, coached by Tom Crean and led by Dwyane Wade, Robert Jackson, Steve Novak, and Travis Diener, defeated top-ranked Kentucky to reach the Final Four. In that game, Wade became one of only four players in NCAA Men's Tournament history to record a triple-double. Wade was named an AP All-American two years in a row and won Conference USA Player of the Year while at Marquette.

Marquette has continued to re-emerge as a national power after 2003. The program has made 7 straight NCAA tournament appearances dating back to 2006, and has made consecutive NCAA Sweet 16 appearances in 2011 and 2012, which marks the first such back-to-back appearances since 1976-77. In 2012, Marquette experienced their best season since 2003, tying the single season school record for wins (27), finishing 2nd place in the Big East for the 1st time in program history, and finishing ranked in the Top 10 of the AP and USA Today/Coaches Poll for the first time since 2003. Jae Crowder was also named Big East Player of the Year, the first such conference player of the year honor for a Marquette player since Dwayne Wade in 2003,

Marquette men's basketball players whose jerseys have been "retired":
 * Dwyane Wade (3)
 * Don Kojis (44)
 * Doc Rivers (31)
 * George Thompson (24)
 * Maurice "Bo" Ellis (31)
 * Butch Lee (15)
 * Earl Tatum (43)
 * Dean Meminger (14)
 * Maurice Lucas (20)
 * Marquette has also retired numbers 77, 38, and 11, in honor of coach Al McGuire, trainer Bob Weingart and the Apollo 11 crew, respectively.

The team plays in the nearby home of the Milwaukee Bucks, the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

Conference Affiliations

Women's basketball
The women's basketball team is coached by Terri Mitchell, 2007 A10 Women's Basketball Coach of the Year. The program has experienced success in recent years under Mitchell's direction, including a run to the championship game of the WNIT, where the women finished as runners-up in 2006, and won the championship in 2008. Most recently, the team made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament in 2011, where they were defeated by top-seeded Tennessee. Marquette women's basketball has qualified for the NCAA tournament seven times since 1994. The team now plays in the Al McGuire Center, named after the former Marquette men's coach.

The team notably hired Tyler Summitt, the 21-year-old son of legendary Tennessee coach Pat Summitt, as an assistant effective with the 2012–13 season—with the announcement coming on the same day his mother announced her retirement after 38 years leading the Lady Vols.

In 2006, Marquette traveled to St. Thomas to participate in the Paradise Jam Tournament. In the opening round Marquette defeated Western Michigan 74–61. In the second round Marquette defeated Auburn 65–61. On the final day, Marquette beat Xavier 73–53 to finish with a 3–0 record and win the 2006 Paradise Jam Championship(St. John division)

Cross-country and track
The cross-country and track teams have produced five Olympians, 13 NCAA champions and 27 All-Americans. Except for Dwyane Wade, Marquette's most successful student-athlete was track and field sprinter Ralph Metcalfe, a world-record holder and Olympic gold-medalist.

Football (varsity)
The varsity football team was known as the "Golden Avalanche" prior to the program being terminated in 1960. Marquette football posted several successful seasons in the 1920s and 1930s including undefeated seasons in 1922, 1923, and 1930. From 1922 to 1923 Marquette held a 17–0–1 record and outscored its opponents 374–15. The 1930 Marquette squad had seven games in which it held the opposition scoreless and held a 155–7 scoring margin. From 1920 to 1936 Marquette held a 90–32–6 record. In 1937 the 20th ranked Marquette Golden Avalanche had a 7–1 regular season record and appeared in the first Cotton Bowl Classic against Texas Christian University, losing 16–6. NCAA football was last played by Marquette in 1960, after accumulating several years of budget deficits for the university. Their last successful season was 1953. Since then, they had accumulated a 10–44–3 record, including two straight seasons (1956 to 1957) without a win or even a tie. Marquette Stadium, the football team's home since 1924, was dismantled in 1978. The sport has since been brought back at the club level.

Men's golf
Marquette University fields only a men's team for golf. Former head coach, Tim Grogan, was honored as The Big East Conference Men's Golf Coach of the Year in 2006 and 2008. The Golf Team holds Marquette's only Big East Championship, which was won in 2008. Mike Van Sickle, class of 2009, was named to the PING Division I All-American Honorable Mention list in June, 2007 and 2008. He was a first-team All-American in 2009. Van Sickle currently holds the school record for single-season average at 70.00 strokes per eighteen holes, and most sub-par rounds at 86. 

Lacrosse
On December 16, 2010, the university announced that it would be adding men's and women's lacrosse teams to begin play as independents in the 2012–13 academic year, before becoming full members of the Big East Conference in men's and women's lacrosse in 2013–14.

Soccer
The men's and women's soccer programs have achieved varying degrees of success. In 2006, the men's team won just one game and finished last in their conference while the women made a run into the NCAA postseason tournament. Coach Louis Bennett recently joined the men's program after years of accomplishment at nearby Milwaukee to help the team match the women's success. In June, 2007, alumnus Dennis Klein donated $1 million to spearhead a new, $5 million European-style soccer stadium for Marquette. The new stadium is set to open in September 2008. Both teams currently compete at Valley Fields.

Basketball

 * Dwyane Wade – guard, Miami Heat, NBA All-Star, NBA Finals MVP, USA Gold Medalist
 * Doc Rivers – Current head coach of the Boston Celtics, former head coach of the Orlando Magic, former point guard for the Atlanta Hawks, Los Angeles Clippers, New York Knicks, & San Antonio Spurs
 * Jim McIlvaine – Washington Bullets, Seattle SuperSonics, New Jersey Nets
 * Steve Novak – forward, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers, Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs, New York Knicks
 * Wesley Matthews – guard, Utah Jazz, Portland Trail Blazers
 * Lazar Hayward – forward, Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder
 * Jimmy Butler - forward/guard, Chicago Bulls
 * Jerel McNeal – guard, Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA D-League, New Orleans Hornets
 * Travis Diener – Orlando Magic, Indiana Pacers, Portland Trail Blazers, Dinamo Sassari
 * Bo Ellis – Denver Nuggets
 * Don Kojis – former NBA All-Star forward for the Baltimore Bullets, Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls, San Diego Rockets, Seattle SuperSonics, Kansas City-Omaha Kings, and forward for the gold medal winning United States men's national basketball team in the 1963 FIBA World Championship where he was named to the All-Tournament Team.
 * Butch Lee – Atlanta Hawks
 * Maurice Lucas – Portland Trail Blazers, New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers, Seattle SuperSonics
 * Tony Smith – Los Angeles Lakers, Charlotte Hornets
 * Dean Meminger – New York Knicks
 * Jim Boylan – NBA assistant coach for the Milwaukee Bucks, former Chicago Bulls interim head coach
 * Gene Berce – Tri-Cities Blackhawks
 * Ed Mullen – National Basketball League
 * Earl Tatum – Los Angeles Lakers
 * George Thompson – Milwaukee Bucks
 * Chris Crawford – Atlanta Hawks
 * Jerome Whitehead – Played for six National Basketball Association teams in an 11-year career
 * Christopher Johlie- Cheered in 3 Big East Championships for Marquette, inducted into the Cheerleeding Hall of Fame 2011
 * Bill Chandler – NBA coach
 * Frank Murray – former Marquette football coach, inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983
 * Jim Chones – Los Angeles Lakers
 * Jae Crowder – 2012 Big East Player of the Year, men's basketball, Dallas Mavericks

Football

 * Ward Cuff – defensive back – place kicker – fullback/halfback, New York Giants
 * George Andrie – defensive end, Dallas Cowboys
 * Ray Buivid – tailback, Chicago Bears
 * Ron Drzewiecki – halfback, Chicago Bears
 * Red Dunn – quarterback, Green Bay Packers
 * Gene Ronzani – former head coach, Green Bay Packers
 * John Sisk, Jr. – Chicago Bears
 * Milt Trost – Chicago Bears

Soccer

 * Hayden Knight – Dallas Sidekicks
 * Jeremiah Bass – Minnesota Thunder
 * Anthony Selvaggi
 * Max Stoka – Chicago Fire

Track and field

 * Ralph Metcalfe – Olympic gold-medalist in the 4×100 m Relay, as well as Olympic silver-medalist in the 100 m dash in both 1932 and 1936.