This has been a busier off-season for the Marquette Golden Eagles than either they or their fans hoped for when it comes to off-court issues.
Sophomore guard Todd Mayo was suspended indefinitely from the team (and has yet to be reinstated), and junior college transfer T.J. Taylor withdrew from school after just two weeks on campus.
And now, according to Don Walker of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, the program is looking into a possible violation of NCAA rules.
“Upon learning the information, we followed established protocols and reported the matter directly to the NCAA,” said athletic director Larry Williams in a statement released by the school.
“We are currently conducting a joint review with the NCAA and cannot comment further at this time.”
According to Andrei Greska of Paint Touches, the violation could be related to recruiting and is not thought to be major.
Of course there’s no telling what exactly happened to spark the joint investigation, but it’s unlikely that this is a major issue for Marquette given their cooperation with the NCAA.
This is just one more thing that head coach Buzz Williams will have to deal with in the months leading up to the start of practice, with the Golden Eagles needing to account for the loss of Big East Player of the Year Jae Crowder and All-Big East guard Darius Johnson-Odom.
Thanks in large part to those two the Golden Eagles led the Big East in scoring offense (75.4 ppg) and ranked fourth in field goal percentage (45.2%) last season, reaching the Sweet 16 where they lost to Florida.
Vander Blue and Junior Cadougan will be key figures on the perimeter, as will Arizona State transfer Trent Lockett and forward Jamil Wilson should be improved in his second season at Marquette.
If Juan Anderson has progressed and big men Davante Gardner and Chris Otule can remain healthy the Golden Eagles should once again reach the NCAA tournament (can’t forget freshman forward Steve Taylor).
The news of a possible NCAA rules violation is certainly a nuisance that Marquette would rather not deal with, and it doesn’t help in preparing for the upcoming season, but it likely isn’t a big deal.
Raphielle is also the assistant editor at CollegeHoops.net and can be followed on Twitter at @raphiellej.