Hopes are high for Marquette's Tyler Kolek. Here's what the Cumberland native had to say.
NEW YORK — Much more is expected of Tyler Kolek and his Marquette teammates entering this 2023-24 season.
The Golden Eagles were largely an afterthought going into last year’s Big East Media Day at Madison Square Garden. Marquette was selected ninth in the team standings and Kolek was shut out of any individual recognition while starting his second season in Milwaukee.
What followed over the next six months was brilliant defiance. Kolek emerged as a national star and was named the league’s Player of the Year. The Golden Eagles swept regular-season and tournament titles while rolling into the NCAA Tournament.
That success was reflected in this next set of preseason balloting, which was released on Tuesday morning. Marquette was installed as the league favorite with seven first-place votes and Kolek was picked to repeat his individual honor.
“Honestly, it doesn’t make me feel any type of way,” said Kolek, a native of Cumberland. “Last year, I wasn’t voted anything and ended up winning Player of the Year. The end of the year is what really matters.”
Kolek and his team are motivated to author a better conclusion this March. The Golden Eagles were upset by Michigan State in the second round of March Madness and denied a chance to make a deep run. That 69-60 setback snapped a 10-game winning streak and was just the second loss for Marquette after Jan. 15.
“The end of last year was unfulfilling,” Kolek said. “We had big plans. We were obviously coming off a Big East championship — winning that was special.
“Not being able to reach our ultimate goals and seeing a team from our conference do what we wanted to do was motivating for sure.”
Connecticut went on to steamroll through the bracket on the way to Houston and brought home its fifth national championship in program history. Kolek simmered on that turn of events while splitting the offseason between campus and his Cumberland home. The left-hander spent time with the Clippers and St. George’s before earning Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year honors during a lone season at George Mason.
“Ten days,” Providence coach Kim English said when he was asked how long the two overlapped with the Patriots. “I was his coach. I didn’t know he was a point guard. From watching him on film, I thought he was a shooter.
“I thought he was tough as nails. I thought he was a great competitor.”
Kolek received lukewarm attention from the Friars and none from the University of Rhode Island after entering the transfer portal. Dave Paulsen was fired and English was hired off the staff at Tennessee to take over. He traveled to visit Kolek and, like he did with current point guard Jayden Pierre, matched up with Kolek in a series of 1-on-1 games for his future.
Kolek lost the planned best-of-3 with his coach before demanding an extension to the series. He won the next two games and was granted English's blessing to leave. Golden Eagles coach Shaka Smart was aggressive and prioritized Kolek from the start, viewing him as the ideal triggerman in a ball-screen offense.
Kolek took a significant leap last season, finishing fourth nationally in assist rate at nearly 40% and cutting his turnover rate by more than 6%. He jumped from a 28.1% shooter from 3-point range to 39.8% in 36 games. Kolek averaged 12.9 points and 7.5 assists and topped the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.0.
“There’s always room for improvement,” Kolek said. “I worked my [backside] off this summer. I think the biggest jump for me — I was a leader last year, but taking that to even another level.”
Kolek worked out over the summer on the Brown University campus with Bears associate head coach TJ Sorrentine. His father, Kevin, played for Sorrentine’s father, Tom, during his youth days — their families have been connected for more than three decades. Kolek’s hope is the success he’s had coupled with the work he’s put in will lead to the ideal finish on the second Monday night in April — Marquette cutting down the nets at the Final Four in Phoenix.
“The expectations are high,” Kolek said. “The rest of these guys are excited for it. I’m excited for it.”
On X: @BillKoch25
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Cumberland's Tyler Kolek picked as preseason Big East Player of the Year
