I Have Identified The Marquette Basketball Note That You Will Hear During Every 2018-19 Game

On Thursday, John Dodds over at Marquette Hoops, the MU themed area of 247 Sports, published a Q&A with Marquette Golden Eagles men’s basketball assistant coach Stan Johnson on the topic of new MU freshman Brendan Bailey.

Bailey, officially a Class of 2016 recruit, has spent the last two years on a Mormon mission after signing a national letter of intent back in the fall of 2015. Given that missions are not known for their highly regimented athletic training programs, there’s a lot of questions to be asked and answered regarding Bailey’s ability to contribute immediately to the Golden Eagles. On top of that, there’s always questions to be asked about what the coaching staff likes most about a freshman, what they need to improve on the most, and how they fit into the current roster and rotation. Go give it a read, and go check out part two from Friday as well.

Along the way on Thursday, though, Johnson dropped in a note that is going to be crucially important to our enjoyment of watching Marquette basketball on television this coming season. Remember how we couldn’t get through a broadcast when Todd Mayo was on the squad without hearing “hey, did you know he’s OJ Mayo’s brother?” This is going to turn into the same thing.

Here it is:

He will be 21 this Saturday (June 9). So, he will be a 21 year old freshman who is mature and understands how to work.

Hey, that’s today! Happy birthday to Brendan. I imagine that we can guarantee that he won’t be celebrating in the traditional college student kind of way, but I hope he has a good day all the same.

Anyway, Bailey turning 21 in June before his freshman year starts is going to be a regular topic of conversation by Fox Sports announcers during the 2018-19 season. We always knew that one was coming because of his mission. However, that’s not the thing that I’m expecting we’ll hear during every game.

See, it’s not just that Marquette is going to have a 21 year old freshman on the roster.

It’s that Marquette is going to have a 21 year old freshman AND a 19 year old junior.

Yep, that’s right. Remember how we couldn’t get through a game of Markus Howard’s freshman year without hearing “He’s only 17 years old!” because Howard didn’t turn 18 until March? Well, he only turned 19 in March of 2018, and won’t be 20 until March of 2019. Thus: Freshman Brendan Bailey will be 21 and junior Markus Howard will be 19 for 95% of Marquette’s season.

We’re going to hear it a whole bunch all season long. Best to prepare yourself for it now.