The 2018-19 college basketball season is quickly approaching, and thus, we turn our attention to previewing the upcoming Marquette Golden Eagles men’s basketball season.

As was the case last year, we’ve got a stacked up list of questions about the 2017-18 campaign, and each of the contributors to AE are going to take a crack at answering them. There will be a new question every weekday afternoon between now and the start of the season, so be sure to stop back every day to find the new one.

Onwards, then, to the question of the day:

Who will lead the team in rebounding this season?

For context purposes, Sam Hauser (5.7 rebounds per game), Matt Heldt (4.7 rpg), and Jamal Cain (3.4 rpg) are the three leading returning rebounders.

Ben Snider:

Not to be a complete contrarian, but I’m going to base this answer on Offensive/Defensive Rebounding %. I think Ed Morrow will take the title. Both his OReb% and DReb% during his last year with Nebrasketball would have ranked first on Marquette last year by a wide margin.

Patrick Leary:

This one is a bit tricky, since a lot of it depends on how the frontcourt minutes split shakes out. Ed Morrow is probably the best rebounder on the team, but Sam Hauser rebounds well for his size, and Matt Heldt figures to play a solid amount of minutes. I’ll go with Sam just based on knowing he’ll be out there consistently.

Connor Lagore:

Going to cop out here and say it’s definitely going to be one of the two guys already picked, but definitely not both. Going to cop further out by saying that it will be for either of the reasons previously mentioned. If it’s Morrow, it’s because he’s the most talented rebounder on the team, and if it’s Sam, it’s because he’ll have the most ideal combination of height and minutes played. It just sort of depends on which of those is more true than the other. That top-notch analysis is why they pay me the big bucks.

Sam Newberry:

Ed Morrow. Henry Ellenson was a great rebounder (and not a lot of people give him credit for that), but Morrow is the first truly elite rebounder they’ve had in a long time. He positions well under the rim, he’s an incredibly physical presence despite being undersized, and he’ll see the playing time needed. I love what he brings, and I think it’ll make a massive difference in the rebounding numbers.

Broadway Brown:

Like everyone else above it is gonna be between Morrow and Sam Hauser. I believe it will be Sam because he’ll be on the floor the most and has shown he can rebound on both sides of the ball.

Brewtown Andy:

I can’t ignore the fact that Ed Morrow averaged 7.5 rebounds per game while only playing 23.4 minutes per game as a sophomore at Nebraska. That’s a rebound every three minutes or thereabouts. Here’s a bold side prediction: Ed Morrow’s offensive rebounding ability (#29 in the country in OR Rate as a sophomore) ends up being a key reason why Marquette’s offense (#211 team ranking in OR Rate last year) maintains their high efficiency while playing much better defense. More offensive rebounds = more possessions ending in points = higher efficiency

Besay:

Big Red Ed (as my friend Jamey Schilling calls him) will lead the team in rebounds this season. I’ve heard he’s fairly good at grabbing boards and he did this in his sleep at Nebraska. Hauser won’t need to be around the net as much with the presence of Morrow. On offense, Hauser can just hang out on the wings or just inside the arc and wait for the dish out while Morrow and Theo John or Heldt crash the glass. That is my ideal scenario.

Pistol Brad:

Rebounding is probably the toughest thing to project on this team with so many new forwards vying for playing time. Attempting to prognosticate who will get the lion’s share of the minutes at center is a fool’s task as the only big we know very much about is Matt Heldt and his playing time could see a decrease if either Theo John becomes more consistent or Ed Morrow proves too much of a monster to leave out of the game. My gut tells me that Marquette will not have anyone average over seven rebounds this season as 1. Our bigs will probably split time for much of the season and 2. Because of the high volume of outside shots we take rebounds tend to be more spread out, offering the opportunity for non-bigs to collect them. That being said, I do believe that Ed Morrow will lead the team in boards. He has the best rebounding pedigree of the three true bigs that are expected to receive significant playing time and I could easily see him averaging the most minutes of the three as he can play power forward as well as center.