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Takeaways from Marquette’s annual Blue and Gold scrimmage

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After nine days of practice, we got our first look at what Marquette men’s basketball might look like this season.

After a season of triumphs and tribulations that ended abruptly at the hands of NC State this past spring, the Golden Eagles are back for another shot at history — only this time without two familiar faces. With Oso Ighodaro and Tyler Kolek’s departures from the program this summer, Marquette has been tasked with finding guys to fill their roles both on and off the court.

“We do feel like, losing two NBA players, who are such savants out there offensively, that we’ve got to have even another level of toughness and grittiness on the defensive end that we had last year, and [that] we’ve had in previous years,” head coach Shaka Smart said.

Team Gold defeated Team Blue 57-51 in the Golden Eagles’ annual ‘Blue and Gold’ scrimmage Saturday morning inside the Al McGuire Center. Senior forward David Joplin led all scorers with 20 points, shooting an efficient 7-for-13 from the field and 6-for-10 from deep.

“Really thankful to our fans, really thankful to our administration for allowing us to do this every year,” Smart said. “This is a significant step for our team and our players to play a scrimmage in front of our fans with officials. It’s just a different dynamic than practice.”

Here are four takeaways from the scrimmage:

Kam Jones impresses as primary ball handler

Yes, the Golden Eagles lost their point guard from last season, but don’t forget about Kam Jones — and all that makes him a preseason All-American candidate and likely Big East preseason player of the year.

The ease with which he gets to the basket. His collection of crafty rim-finishes which enable him to score in a multitude of ways down low. The silky-smooth shooting stroke that first put him on the map. His ability to punish the swarming traps which he attracts like blood does mosquitoes. 

Saturday was just another showing of what Jones can — and will — look like as Marquette’s guy. 

Before the scrimmage began, Smart, mic in hand, impressed upon the fans in attendance that Jones finished a 28-minute intrasquad scrimmage last week with nine assists. He finished Saturday’s 28 minutes with 11, also scoring 15 points en route to a double-double. 

“We knew this offseason that there was room for growth there. And I think that Kam did a really good job being intentional,” Smart said. “We have a specific workout called ‘the passes we make,’ and Kam really bought into that. And he did that workout several times a week. 

“It’s hook passes to the corner, it’s kick-aheads, it’s throwback passes, it’s drop-downs to the big, it’s lobs. And those are the same passes that he’s making right now in today’s scrimmage and in practice. So, excited about his growth.”

Jones dominated the pick-and-roll game all afternoon, occupying the playmaker role with enough consistently eye-opening plays that watchers were likely incapable of stopping the comparisons to a recently-departed All-American from coming to mind.

“I love it. Me and him get in the gym a lot of times. I’ve been seeing him working on it all year long, all summer long,” junior guard Chase Ross said. “The things that he’s doing is great. We’re going to need that from him, especially. 

“A lot of teams are going to try to get him off the ball. So just the passes in [the right] place, he’s doing very well for us.”

Clark flashes potential

When Ighodaro announced that he would be headed to the NBA this spring, a hole was created in the Golden Eagles rotation down low.

Junior forward Ben Gold and redshirt first-year forward Caedin Hamilton are prime candidates to see the biggest uptick in minutes at the five position this season. Saturday morning though, Marquette fans caught a glimpse of another big who could follow in Ighodaro’s footsteps in the future. Insert Josh Clark.

The 18-year old redshirt had his way at the rim against Team Blue. Clark went 8-for-10 from the field, collecting 17 points and one rebound. Notably, all his made field goals were dunks. With Sean Jones (ACL), Tre Norman (shoulder) and Damarius Owens (groin) missing Saturday’s scrimmage, the Golden Eagles’ depth was on full display. Smart said liked what he saw from the gold team.

“We’re still working to build our competive stamina,” Smart said. “I thought Gold had a lot more of that today than Blue, and interestingly enough, that was augmented by a redshirt who found a good spot on the floor to be and dunked the ball a lot.”

“It’s amazing what an EGB a lob dunk is.”

Parham proves he can be in Golden Eagles’ rotation 

With Owens’ groin keeping him on the sideline, Royce Parham was the only first-year — who’d see game-time this season as Clark is redshirting — on the court Saturday. 

So naturally, he was someone a lot of people were paying attention to. 

In the spotlight, the 6-foot-8 Parham impressed with his size, athleticism and versatility on both sides of the ball. He finished with 12 points, shooting 5-for-9 from the field and 1-for-3 from deep. 

“He’s up there, I would say, top three or five on our team in terms of time spent in this building, working on his game outside of practice,” Smart said. “Since we started summer school, he’s made as much progress as anyone on our team. 

“And he’s a guy who’s put himself in position as he keeps getting better, he’s going to put the ball in the basket if we can put him in the right spots out there on the floor.”

The Gold team — which included Jones, Clark, Ross and Ben Gold — utilized Parham’s mobility and made him the screen setter in the pick-and-roll. He was also able to show his ability at driving downhill.

“Royce is going to be nice. Marquette fans are going to love what he brings to the table,” Ross said. “For us, he’s been doing good. He’s been getting in the gym with the (bigs) a lot this summer.”

Sean Jones hopeful to return sooner rather than later

Shaka Smart didn’t hold back any thoughts after the scrimmage on his hopes for junior guard Sean Jones’ season.

“He’s making good progress,” Smart said. “Don’t have an exact date on when he’ll be back, but we’re hopeful that it’s sometime early in the season.”

Jones, who has hasn’t played since Jan. 10, is still working his way back from a torn ACL he suffered in a 69-62 loss against Butler.

Smart still hasn’t specified whether or not this season would be used as a medical redshirt.

This article was written by Jack Albright and Matthew Baltz. They can be reached at jack.albright@marquette.edu and matthew.baltz@marquette.edu or on Twitter/X @JackAlbrightMU and @MatthewBaltzMU.