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 be the team MVP this season?

Ben Snider:

I think it’ll end up being Sam Hauser. Markus Howard is one of the best scorers we’ve ever seen, but Hauser is not that far behind him. When you take into account his defensive ability and versatility, he provides more total value. This team won’t be able to get very far if one of them has an off year, though.

Brewtown Andy

If you’re going to be an annoying jackass about how badly a player is getting overlooked on a national level, then you have to ride that one out all the way to the end.

Thus, my pick for MVP, as it was last year, is Sam Hauser. He’s the most complete player on the roster, he’s led the team in minutes each of the past two years, and he is the most ruthlessly efficient player on the team. I expect him to do more this year than he did last year, but not experience much of an efficiency drop off. He’s that damn good.

Broadway Brown

Gotta go with Sam Hauser here. He’s the most complete player on the team and will rack up some heavy minutes. Markus is a terrific scorer, but I think defenses will try and lock him and that will lead to Sam having more opportunities.

Sam Newberry:

Sam Hauser. I said on our roster preview podcast that he’s the most important player because he’s the central cog in the machine that is this offense. He makes everyone around him better and his versatility enables him to score, dish, and otherwise contribute off the ball on the offensive half. He’s not an elite defender, but he’s good-to-decent, and if he struggles this year, this team will struggle this year.

Connor Lagore:

A slight cop-out here, but I’m going co-MVPs for Sam Hauser and Markus Howard. If one of them were to be removed from the team, I don’t think the other would be good enough to carry them to the tournament. They’re equally important for different reasons, and could win probably 17 games if the team was just the two of them plus the Anonymous Eagle staff.

Besay

Sam Hauser. He is Marquette’s best all-around player. Markus Howard might have a few electrifying performances but Hauser will be the more consistent weapon offensively and defensively.

Pistol Brad:

The most valuable player on the team this year will be Sam Hauser. Hauser will be an efficiency monster again this season and his defense should improve after hip surgery this offseason. However, Hauser will still play second fiddle to Markus Howard when it comes to postseason awards, as national outlets like scoring and would rather not take the time and effort to explain why Hauser is as good as he is. I guess one could argue Howard as the team MVP as Marquette is short on guards and heavy on bigs but I chose to pick the best player regardless of roster composition so Sam Hauser is your MVP this season.