On Monday night when Milwaukee and Miami get set for their first game of what should be a great series, three Marquette alums will take the court. Wesley Matthews played at Marquette from 2005 to 2009 and is on your Bucks. Jimmy Butler played at Marquette from 2008 to 2011. Jae Crowder played from 2010 to 2012. Butler and Crowder were reunited on Miami’s team when the Heat acquired Crowder from Memphis for Justice Winslow. Marquette basketball having three guys playing meaningful minutes in the second round of the playoffs should be used as a major recruiting tool over the next few weeks. Yes, some blue bloods like Kentucky have a multitude of guys, it is still a great accomplishment for Marquette.

In a fun moment yesterday, as Heat and Bucks had pre-series availability, Eric Nehm of The Athletic asked Butler to rank the three guys in this series. Butler laughed at the question and asked for Nehm to rank it on his own. He said ‘Butler, Matthews, and Crowder.’ This is probably the right ranking yet it is still fun to hear Jae in the background contend with not being ranked last in anything.

Jimmy: “Jae, you last!”
Jae: “Last in what?”
Jimmy: “Nothing. 😏”@JimmyButler & @CJC9BOSS had some fun with the media ranking the 3 former @MarquetteMBB stars in the @MiamiHEAT–@Bucks series. 🤣 pic.twitter.com/HIr5ukUSQ1

— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) August 30, 2020

This speaks to Marquette though. They’re exactly the type of guys you want on an NBA playoff roster. Steve Wojciechowski should be sending any clips of Butler, Crowder, or Matthews and say ‘This could be you too’ years later. Marquette should be proud of all these guys. While I do like cheering for Butler and Crowder, that will have to be put on pause for a couple of weeks. I wish them the worst of luck and wish they were playing on a team in the Western Conference.

Charlie.