The 2018-19 college basketball season is right around the corner, so let’s get into the Marquette Golden Eagles basketball roster and take a look at what to expect from each player this season. We’ll be going through the players one by one: First MU’s lone true freshman, then the lone graduate transfer, followed by the three players who redshirted last season for one reason or another, and then wrapping up with the returning players, going in order of average minutes played per game last season from lowest to highest.

We’re going to organize our thoughts about the upcoming season as it relates to each player into categories:

• Reasonable Expectations
• Why You Should Get Excited
• Potential Pitfalls

With that out of the way, we turn our attention to the graduate transfer who has a unique responsibility placed on him for this season......

Joseph Chartouny

Graduate Transfer Senior - #21 - 6’3” - 200 pounds - Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Joseph “Joey Steals” Chartouny could just be the most important player on the Marquette roster this year. The 6’3” graduate transfer from Fordham Rams is expected to play a critical role in both the offensive and defensive schemes here at Marquette. Chartouny hails from America’s Fancy Hat, aka Canada, the city of Montreal to be specific. While at Fordham, Chartouny made a name for himself with his tough defense, leading the team in steals all three years he played there, as a sophomore he averaged 3.2 steals per game and last season he upped that to 3.3 steals per game. I cannot officially confirm this as I am yet to see Chartouny play in live action but from what I am hearing the steals that Chartouny accumulates are not the Jajuan Johnson type where he gambles wildly and most of the time just ends up without the ball and out of position.

Chartouny comes to Marquette at the perfect time, he should serve as a stopgap between noted three-point enthusiast Andrew Rowsey and point guard of the future Koby (Freight Train) McEwen. When Chartouny originally announced his intention to transfer after graduating from Fordham, I distinctly remember Marquette twitter, especially those guys over at @PaintTouches, being very excited. Chartouny may not have been the best transfer on the market but almost certainly fit in with our team the best as the squad had a glaring need for a distributor and a guard with size that can defend. That was the case over the summer, and it’s even more pronounced now that Greg Elliott will be out until December after thumb surgery.

On a non-basketball note, Chartouny can speak three languages: English, French, and Lebanese, the latter because that’s his family’s historical heritage. He graduated from Fordham with a degree in business administration and overall seems to continue head coach Steve Wojciechowsi’s tradition of recruiting fine young men to play on our team.

Reasonable Expectations

I do not expect Chartouny to put up a lot of points this season. It doesn’t appear that he is quick enough to get past Big East level point guards off the bounce on a regular basis and it will be much more difficult for him to bully smaller guards in a high major conference. That being said, I think his ability to be a hawk in passing lanes and his high-level court vision will translate well to high major basketball and his steal numbers and assists should not suffer playing in a new conference. I do not think it unreasonable for Chartouny to average around five assists this season and somewhere right around three steals per game. He averaged 5.2 assists in 84 games for a slow-paced and wildly inefficient Fordham team, and 2.9 steals in that time as well. More so, I expect Chartouny to do the little things, hustle for loose balls, box out, stand his ground if he is switched onto a big man in the post and so on. For a guy who may not be the best run/jump athlete in the world, these things are critical for Chartouny if he wants to make a major contribution to the team this year, which I think he will. Beyond that, I think it is reasonable that he shoots over 33% from three-point land. Last season at Fordham he shot a paltry 28% from three but he was also the focal point of a rather anemic offense and with more weapons around him he should have much better looks here at Marquette. As a sophomore, Chartouny shot nearly 38% from long range, so he’s got the ability in him if gets the open looks.

Reasons To Get Excited

WE HAVE A GUARD WHO IS TALL ENOUGH TO GO ON RIDES AT DISNEYLAND!!!!!!! AND NOT JUST THE TEACUPS!!!!!!!!!!!

If this doesn’t make you giddy, then I don’t know what will. Last year, as you all should know by now, Marquette was a great offensive team, in fact according to Ken Pomeroy we were the 12th best offensive team in the country. We were also the 182nd best defensive team in the country, which is also the 170th worst defense. I could go into the stats behind the ranking and how it reflects poorly on the team but instead I’ll simplify it down to four words WE SUCKED AT DEFENSE. That being said, with Joey Steals on board we can shore up the defensive disaster spot in the lineup that was Andrew Rowsey. Chartouny should be able to defend the other team’s lead guard allowing for us to hide Howard on a lesser offensive player.

If Chartouny can defend at merely a moderate level, we anticipate Marquette will be a far better defensive team overall that we were last year and that doesn’t even take into account the rebounding machine that is referred to as Ed Morrow.

If Chartouny can distribute the ball effectively on offense and play defense like he has been hyped up to, he will make a massive difference on this Marquette roster. Replacing fan favorite and noted Water Street bars patron Andrew Rowsey is no easy task, at least on offense, but if Chartouny can play his game and be a leader at the point guard position, he could make a massive positive impact on this team.

Potential Pitfalls

There are certainly some reasons to worry that Joey Steals (yes, we’re making this a thing, get on board now) will not be all that he is cracked up to be this season. The first of which is the huge jump in competition, as going from the Atlantic 10 to the Big East is no small feat. The level of athlete Chartouny will be competing against in Shamorie Ponds, Kamar Baldwin and others of their ilk is very high. If Chartouny is not able to adjust to the quickness of the Big East game, he could be limited on the defensive side of the ball and if the defensive stopper you brought in struggles on defense, that is a major issue. Chartouny played primarily off the ball on defense at Fordham, allowing him to pick off plenty of passes, however, at Marquette he will be asked to play on the ball much more as to hide Markus Howard. If he struggles with this assignment, he could be in for a long season.

The other potential pitfall that we have to watch out for with Chartouny is his shooting, last season he shot only 28% from deep, and as a freshman he only knocked down 31%. That will not cut it on a Marquette roster that has plenty of other guys who can take the three-point shot more efficiently. Although the 28% number is worrying, I believe that with better spacing and no longer being the focal point of the offense Chartouny will improve that number pretty dramatically this season.