I'll let the video speak for itself! 

Categorize this as a bit of a surprise as former Marquette Golden Eagles forward Al Amadou committed to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers today. 

As a freshman on an experienced Marquette team that earned a #2 seed and reached the Sweet Sixteen of the 2024 NCAA Tournament, Amadou played in 14 games, averaging 1.2 points in 3.6 minutes per game. Amadou redshirted prior to his sophomore season and then entered the portal afterward, landing with the St. Joseph's Redhawks. Amadou was the first player to transfer from Marquette in two seasons, a bit of a surprise given Shaka Smart's emphasis on family culture, player development and program retention. 

St. Joseph's seemed to be an intriguing landing spot for Amadou, who is from Philadelphia. However, Amadou only played in 11 games last season, getting 70 minutes of total playing time and finishing with an average of 1.6 points per game. Now Amadou is leaving his home roots once again for a return to the city of Milwaukee, where he will play for Panthers' Head Coach Bart Lundy. 

Amadou was a part of Marquette's once-promising but ultimately disappointing high school recruiting class of 2023, which included Tre Norman, Zaide Lowery and Caiden Hamilton. Both Norman and Lowery entered the transfer portal this offseason after failing to show the necessary development as upperclassmen. Lowery started the first nine games of last season before getting benched and leaving the team at the end of December. He has committed to Dayton while Norman's destination is still undecided. After redshirting as a true freshman, the redshirt junior Hamilton figures to be the first big off the bench for Marquette in 2026-27, behind junior Royce Parham and Louisville transfer Sananda Fru. 

Back to Amadou, I remember watching him play early during his Marquette career, getting a nice block, and thinking this springy forward could be something in a few years. Clearly, that hasn't worked out, though maybe things will be for the better at UWM.  

While his first three years certainly haven't gone as expected, Amadou has two years of eligibility remaining, a chance at another reset, to salvage something of his college basketball career. 

The transfer portal officially closed at 11 p.m. central time last night, but not before the Marquette Golden Eagles lost a player, with redshirt freshman power forward/center Sheek Pearson entering at the eleventh hour. 

From St. Louis, Missouri, Pearson was a top 50 recruit who reclassified to join Marquette for the 2025-26 season, during which he took a redshirt and did not play. Pearson leaves Marquette without ever playing a game for the program. 

Last week Marquette added Louisville big man Sananda Fru via the portal, which likely impacted Pearson's decision to leave. However, leaving at essentially the last minute suggests that Pearson was not confident about his playing time next season, and/or another program may have poached him with promises of more playing time and money. 

Such is the cruel nature of the college basketball transfer portal, which Marquette Head Coach Shaka Smart has avoided the past five seasons. After failing to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in his five seasons at Marquette, Smart indicated he would be using the portal this offseason. 

Marquette ended up losing four players to the transfer portal, with the defections of: 

• Senior guard Sean Jones to Toledo. 
• Junior guard Zaide Lowery to Dayton. 
• Senior guard Tre Norman to undetermined. 
• Redshirt freshman center Pearson to undetermined. 

For a program like Marquette, which prides itself on player retention and a culture of togetherness, this has to be a bit abnormal, though it is par for the course for college basketball programs. Of course, the Golden Eagles expected to lose a few players. However, with the portal, there is always one or two defections that are hard to swallow, with Pearson qualifying in this matter. As a fan of any program, there is hardly much worse than getting a promising, young player who never suits up for the team. 

In addition to Fru, Marquette has added St. Thomas (Minnesota) guard Nolan Minessale via the portal.

The Golden Eagles have two open roster spots for the 2026-27 season. Expect Smart to be cautious and intentional about filling these spots. It might make sense to fill one spot in the immediate future and leave the other open entering the summer, especially if the NCAA passes the "five-for-five" rule that would allow current four-year seniors who have seemingly exhausted all eligibility to get one more season in college. Of course, one of these spots could be used for another high school recruit to reclassify and join the program next season. 

While not ideal, the loss of Pearson gives Marquette some flexibility to add to its roster for what figures to be a bounceback 2026-27 season. 

Marquette has added its second player from the transfer portal, with today's addition of St. Thomas (Minnesota) guard Nolan Minessale a reason why I like Shaka Smart getting back in the portal. 

After averaging 11.2 points as a freshman for the Tommies, Minessale had a huge sophomore jump, boosting his per game scoring average to 19.8 points during the 2025/26 season. From nearby Brookfield, Wisconsin, Minessale played at Marquette University High School. 

Looking at some highights, the 6'5'' Minessale seems sneakily athletic and quite intelligent on the court. Apparently, Minessale likes to get downhill and go to the bucket, which should suit the Golden Eagles quite well. Marquette is always at its best when it can put pressure on the basket. Minessale also gets a pretty insane arc on his shots, especially off the dribble drive. In other words, he is a much more crafty scorer than his appearance deems him to be. 

Could Minessale be a steal for the Golden Eagles, especially with two years of eligibility left? Apparently, NBA scouts were intrigued enough to watch Minessale in person several times last season. 

While Smart has not used the portal since 2021, last season necessitated a change in philosophy. Honestly, culture is so important to Shaka, who is not just going to take someone to take someone. Smart was very shrewd with whom he brought in from the portal prior to his first season at Marquette, with George Mason's Tyler Kolek the Patriot League player of the year as a freshman and a star in the making, Clemson's Olivier Maxence Prosper a defensive nightmare and eventual first-round draft pick, and seniors Darryl Morsell of Maryland and Kur Kuath of Oklahoma veteran role players who helped establish the right culture. 

Smart would not be bringing in Minessale and Louisville's Sananda Fru if he didn't think they would fit the program's culture and be able to contribute. While from the less-heralded program than Fru, Minessale could contribute in a big way next season, even when jumping from the Summit League to a higher level of competition in the Big East. At 200 pounds, Minessale is going to have to add some more muscle to his upper-body, as well as improve from three, where he shot 30.6% as a sophomore. 

Overall, though, Minessale is an intriguing addition for Marquette, which has one more open spot for next season. At the very least, Minessale should be a connector and glue guy on the court and shows that Smart knows how to comb the portal and identify guys who fit what he wants Marquette basketball to be: tough, disciplined and together.

I can't blame Smart for previously not wanting to engage in the dirty pay-and-play game of the transfer portal, but such is college basketball today. The portal is not going anywhere, with it as or even more important than high school recruiting. Principled, classy coaches like Smart need to find a happy medium using the portal to get players who fit a program's personality and fill team needs. Smart seems to be doing just that so far this offseason. 

After staying out of the transfer portal for five offseasons, Marquette Head Coach Shaka Smart has made the necessary adjustment and reentered, securing a commitment today from 6'11'' forward Sananda Fru from Louisville. 

From Berlin, Germany, Fru started 29 of 35 games for Louisville last season, averaging 9.0 points and 6.1 rebounds in about 22 minutes a game. Sanu only averaged about five shots a game on a Louisville team that had some perimeter shooters in Mikel Brown, Ryan Conwell and Isaac McKneeley, though he shot 75.3% from the field. 

During a first round victory against South Florida in the NCAA Tournament, Fru had 10 points and 10 rebounds in 22 minutes. Against Michigan State in the second round, he had 2 points, 6 rebounds and 5 fouls in 18 minutes. Fru scored in double figures 17 times last season, with a career-high 19 points against Boston College on January 10th. 

With one year of remaining eligibility, Fru seems like a nice fit with Marquette junior forward Royce Parham, who showed a lot of improvement last season driving the ball to the rim. Fru fits the profile of a rim running big who should be able to thrive in the pick-and-roll/lob game and get some baskets cutting from the dunker spot while adding some needed offensive rebounding and shot blocking. 

Will Fru fill a similar role of Kur Kuath, a rim-running and shot-blocking big from Oklahoma whom Smart secured a commitment out of the transfer portal prior to his first season at Marquette? 

Smart had a lot of success with the portal that season bringing in Kuath, Darryl Morsell from Maryland, Olivier Maxence Prosper from Clemson and Tyler Kolek from George Mason. Amazingly, Smart has not added a transfer portal since this 2021 class! 

Of course, the transfer portal has changed a lot since that initial class, with Smart placing a greater emphasis on internal development and culture rather than compensating players who are merely chasing the highest bag and potentially bringing questionable personality fits. While that philosophy worked wonders during the Kolek, Oso Ighodaro, Cam Jones, Stevie Mitchell and David Joplin years, Marquette struggled this past season as seniors Chase Ross and Ben Gould did not develop along the lines of those past upperclassmen. 

Give credit to Smart for making this adjustment and supplementing his roster with the portal, which is an out-of-control mess but a necessary evil. Smart is smart enough to find guys who can still fit within the type of program he is running. 

Below are some highlights of Fru during his lone season at Louisville. 

In other portal news, departing Marquette guard Sean Jones has found a new home at Toledo. Jones struggled with serious injuries the past two seasons and made a wise decision to move on from Marquette with Smart turning the offense over to a similar jitterbug guard in Nigel James Jr. 

Best wishes to Jones, who was at his best for Marquette during the team's run in Maui two seasons ago before suffering a torn ACL in January of 2024. As a senior, Jones would have been foolish to come back to Marquette where his minutes would have likely been limited. A fresh start at a lower level is the wise move for Jones at this point in his career as nothing is guaranteed after missing two straight seasons with injuries. Here's hoping Jones can find his health at Toledo and have a productive season for the Rockets. 

After losing 50 games this season, Doc Rivers has announced that he is leaving the Milwaukee Bucks, mercifully ending a disastrous 2 1/2 seasons as head coach of the franchise. 

One of the most overrated coaches and figures in NBA history, Rivers was a predictable dud with the Bucks, a franchise that has no direction and needs to come to terms with reality: it is time to trade Giannis Antetokounmpo this offseason.

Rivers never deserved the Bucks job but seemingly finagled his way into the position after the Bucks fired Adrian Griffin 43 games into his first season, despite having a 30-13 record at the time. The Bucks cratered once Rivers went from consultant to head coach, finishing 17-19 the rest of the regular season and losing to the lower-seeded Indiana Pacers in the first round. The Bucks proceeded to lose again to the Pacers in the first round last season before enduring this miserable 30-52 campaign of drama, drama and more drama. 

The petulant Antetokounmpo has really cratered all likeability this season with his half-foot in, half-foot out mentality while Rivers was a blowhard who talked a good game but couldn't back it up on the sidelines. That has been the case with Rivers for quite a long time. With the exception of one championship with a loaded Boston Celtics team in 2008, Rivers has been nothing but a mediocre coach who has disappointed more than he has impressed with the Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Clippers, Celtics and Orlando Magic.

River is loved by the media, though, hence his recent Hall of Fame selection, for what, I am not sure. Rivers made one All-Star game as a player and won one title as a head coach. Sadly, Rivers once seemed to be a class act but has become more of an ego-maniac politician with age. In reality, Rivers was an average/above-average player and coach who has been placed on a pedestal as if he is something great. He just isn't anything special. 

Sadly, for the Bucks, Rivers leaving does not do much to move the needle. This franchise has done everything wrong since winning the title in 2021, especially trading Jrue Holiday for Dame Lillard, an awful move that really cost this team its heart and soul. The Bucks are too scared to trade Giannis even though it is time. The relationship between the star and the franchise is beyond toxic. While trading a generational talent like Giannis is going to be hard for a small-market team like the Bucks, it's time for Milwaukee to suck it up and start building for the future, preferably with a new General Manger. Let's not get started on Jon Horst. 

My guess is the Bucks will kick the can down the road once again, elevating Darvin Ham to Head Coach and giving Giannis more say on next season's roster, that is, until things crater right away and Giannis pouts some more about wanting to be on a championship team. 

Sorry, I am just venting now. The NBA, like Doc Rivers, is just no good anymore. Give me college basketball, with all of its problems, every day of the week. :-)

Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. I remember this contest to be a fun one, with Marquette getting behind but battling down to the wire during senior Steve Novak's final collegiate game. This Marquette team started three freshman in Dominic James, Jerrel McNeal and Wesley Matthews, who would go on to have a long NBA career. I rushed home from work to catch the second half of this game and then talked to my brother, who was a senior at Marquette at the time, to discuss our disappointment in the loss but excitement about Marquette's young roster. :-)