Marquette basketball coaches Shaka Smart and Megan Duffy have good feel for teams after eventful summer
There's always a unique buzz to the first day of classes on a college campus. Grand plans for the upcoming months are swirling inside people's minds and optimism abounds.
Marquette basketball coaches Shaka Smart and Megan Duffy are no different from the students scurrying to lecture halls. As has been a recent tradition, the duo handed out free breakfast at Sendik's and chatted with students on their way classes Monday.
"It's just an excitement about Marquette," Smart said. "It's a special place, there's always a good energy on campus.
"I think it's one of those places where people understand that people are people through other people and they want to make each other better. Everyone's excited. Maybe a little bit nervous. But that's part of the fun."
Smart and Duffy are eager to continue working with their players. They got a jump start in the summer with both the men's and women's teams taking foreign tours, which allotted them 10 extra practices from the NCAA.
That was good for Duffy, who is incorporating several new faces this season and got an early look at the roster in Italy and Greece.
"Those extra days and just extra hours you get to be with your team, whether that's on or off the court has been tremendous," Duffy said. "For us, we have pretty much half our team is new.
"So we got a good core of vets. And then we got a couple freshmen. Three transfers. Really four transfers now. So just to be able to spend some time with them. The competition is OK over there, it's more so the practice times and laying the foundation so it's not like today we're like, oh gosh, who is everybody and what do they do? We have a good feel."
Abbey Cracknell and Caedin Hamilton were late additions to rosters
Duffy's team had a late addition in Abbey Cracknell, an Australian guard who played two seasons in junior college. She enrolled quickly enough to make the trip overseas with the Golden Eagles.
"It was interesting," Duffy said. "We just wanted to fill one more on the roster. She was actually committed to Yale.
"It was kind of a unique thing, because she was at a JUCO but she's from Australia. So a little bit different when you're an international student at a JUCO. She was waiting on an admissions thing and then kind of something happened with a credit and she was able to take a class and here she is at Marquette.
"So it happened fast. She's been incredible. We literally got everything approved by the NCAA and we got her on a plane to Milwaukee. Then Milwaukee to Rome. She didn't have any practices with us. She got her physical and that's about it. Just a really good young woman, excited to get her more in the fall blended in."
Smart had a recent addition as well in Caedin Hamilton. The big man did not travel to Italy with the team but arrived on campus last week to get acclimated. He is expected to redshirt this season.
"He's soaking everything up," Smart said. "He's driven. As I told you in the summer, he's on an unbelievable trajectory. He didn't even really play that much on his varsity team as a junior in high school.
"So now two years later, he's playing in the Big East and competing against these guys. He is very driven and he's ready to work. He'll have his first workout with me today on the court. It'll be fun. Rome wasn't built in a day, so we're not necessarily trying to shock his system on the first day or the first week. But we're very excited about what he can become."
Update on Ben Gold's shin splints
Duffy said her team has gotten through the summer without any major injuries. Smart is still monitoring sophomore Ben Gold's shin splints. Gold did not play in MU's three games in Italy. He is expected to have key role this season.
"Supposed to get his boot off this week," Smart said. "He says he's feeling better, but he has not done any basketball activities for the last several weeks, so we're hopeful that we can get him going at some point in September."
Summer break is over and there was a hint of fall in the air early Monday morning. That means basketball season is right around the corner. Smart's team is projected to be among the best in the country and will likely enter the season ranked in the top 10.
"This is somewhat of a day of renewal for us as well with the start of school," Smart said. "We get to start with our fall program, so it's a lot of conditioning, continued work in the weight room, continued work on the court.
"Our guys are around most of the summer. But it's a chance to really strengthen our championship habits as we go into the season. Because we understand that in order for us to be champions we have to act, interact and respond like champions."
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Marquette basketball coaches Shaka Smart and Megan Duffy excited for year
