On Monday afternoon, Duane Wilson, Marquette’s redshirt junior, announced he would be graduating in May and looking for a new school to grad transfer to for his final season. Wilson was a leader of this Marquette basketball, and he played a large part in bringing this team back together when Golden Eagles hit tough times in early February. A product of Milwaukee he started the movement of Marquette keeping more local talent, and there hasn’t been many more loyal than him.

Always and forever will I love Marquette. This is home… thank you for everything. I love you guys. #mubb pic.twitter.com/vD9VZA5iuy

— Duane Wilson (@SwaggyDu1) March 20, 2017

Wilson’s career should be remembered fondly. When Buzz Williams, the coach who recruited him, left for Virginia Tech, he never wavered on leaving Marquette. When he kept seeing players he came into the program with leave, the former Top 100 player stayed at part of the program. The Marquette guard was a sort of brand champion of Golden Eagles and their basketball team. When Steve Wojciechowski limited his playing time, Wilson still kept his head up and continued to be a strong leader on the team. The moment of his career though will be helping guide the comeback against Villanova where Wilson helped changed the tide down the stretch.

He cannot go anywhere in the Big East per their rules, but I hope Marquette doesn’t put any restrictions on where he goes. The guess is Wilson will end up playing somewhere in the mid-majors, and likely, he stays in Midwest. But who knows. These grad transfers things are funny. He might have somewhere in mind that none of us even considered.

Thanks, Duane.

Charlie.