The 2021-22 college basketball season is quickly approaching, and thus, we turn our attention to previewing the upcoming Marquette Golden Eagles men’s basketball season.

To that end, we’ve got a stacked up list of questions about the forthcoming campaign, and we’ve gotten the #mubbPAC of Paint Touches, Anonymous Eagle, and Cracked Sidewalks back together 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 is going to lead Marquette in rebounding this season?

For context, Dawson Garcia led the team last year at 6.6 rebounds per game with Jamal Cain not far behind at 6.3 a night. Justin Lewis is the leading guy coming back at 5.4 per game.

Tim Blair, Cracked Sidewalks: It’ll be Justin Lewis. It’d be great to pick Kur Kuath here — and he ultimately might — but during his time at OU, he just wasn’t on the floor enough. Lewis figures to be Shaka’s showcase player this season, and his near elite offensive rebound rate and solid effort on the defensive glass from a year ago bode well for his sophomore campaign.

Ben Snider, Anonymous Eagle: Give me Kur Kuath. This man will be around the rim at all times with the refreshing ability to stay in the game while doing so. He’s the player I’m most excited to see work in this system defensively and the rebound numbers will be his reward.

Rob Lowe, Cracked Sidewalks: /Picks the guy that was nationally ranked at offensive and defensive rebounding. [Editor’s Note: That’s Justin Lewis, who was #88 in offensive rebounding rate and #438 on the defensive end per KenPom.com last season.]

John Gunville, Anonymous Eagle: As much as Kur Kuath seems like the obvious pick here, being an experienced big guy who dunked from the free throw line at Marquette Madness, I’m going to go with Justin Lewis on this one. This is purely based on the fact that Lewis likely plays more minutes and gets more rebounds as a result.

Joe McCann, Cracked Sidewalks: I considered taking Kur Kuath, because why not just take the tall guy who will likely start at center? But Justin Lewis makes more sense to me because I think he’ll get more minutes and his rebounding percentages on offense and defense are better. Kur will probably get the lion’s share of the minutes in the middle, but I expect to see Oso Ighodaro spell him, and MU may even go small sometimes with Lewis at the 5. Lewis will be on the floor a lot, so I think he’ll pull down the most boards.

Brewtown Andy, Anonymous Eagle: I tried to piece together an answer here that’s not Kur Kuath or Justin Lewis just to be interesting. The closest I can get to it is “Maybe Oso Ighodaro gets a weird amount of minutes in the lineup at the 5 and uses his athleticism to get to 6 rebounds a game somehow” and even I can’t believe that. I’ll go with Kuath just because I think he’ll play more than the minutes he played last year and the minutes that T-Rank projects him to play this year.

Alan Bykowski, Cracked Sidewalks: Justin Lewis if he’s healthy. He led Marquette in offensive and defensive rebounding percentages last year and was higher in both than Kuath. Similarly, like with Morsell for scoring, I expect Justin to be out there a lot and Kuath has never been a high minutes guy. My dark horse would be O-Max, but from what I’m hearing the staff is tempering expectations despite his impressive open practice and secret scrimmage performances.

Carter Chapley, Anonymous Eagle: I’d Imagine Justin Lewis just gets more opportunities than Kuath in terms of minutes and different lineups he’ll be featured in, so that’s the guy I’d go with. It’s probably a close battle, so close it may not be worth mentioning, but Lewis gets the slight edge.

Todd Welter, Cracked Sidewalks: Flip a coin between Kur Kuath or Justin Lewis. My only concern with Kuath is will he be playing more minutes in his final college season. Thankfully, he chose to spend it at Marquette and protect its rim. What concerns me is can he stay out of foul trouble? If he can stay on the court, block shots and play well in the paint, then it is Kuath. Otherwise, if he is on the bench with foul trouble, the gifted Lewis pulls down more boards.

Patrick Leary, Anonymous Eagle: Justin Lewis. Dude’s a beast on the glass. Kur Kuath is the other candidate, but this is Lewis’ area to shine, and I still am not sure just how big of a role they’ll give Kuath, who has never really had a significant contributor role.

Phil Bush, Cracked Sidewalks: Did anyone say anyone other than Justin Lewis? I just want to know who was wrong. Shaka Smart has talked about Justin trying to figure out where he fits in offensively. You know where Justin doesn’t need to figure things out? Rebounding….rebounding is the answer. Justin Lewis will get a LOT of rebounds.

Andrei Greska, Paint Touches: Despite his size, Kuath wasn’t a fantastic rebounder at OU. He was at only 15.1% in terms of defensive rebounding rate last year, and that left him short of a top 500 ranking per KenPom.com. Lewis has giant hands and uses his frame so well. Since he’ll be getting heavy minutes, he’s going to rack up boards on both ends and lead the way.