Marquette: lost and found, part one

July 12, 8:32 PMMarquette Golden Eagles ExaminerBrian Neuberger

Previous Next

2 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Marquette Golden Eagles Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Earlier this week, Sports Illustrated published its 10th annual “Where Are They Now?” issue; a collaboration of stories and profiles of the current whereabouts of yesterday’s athletic heroes, pioneers, integral figures and, on occasion, films that personified the internal struggle, personal triumphs and each minute detail the pageantry which athletics embody (personally, I still think of Roger Dorn each time an infielder misplays a routine ground ball).

While Dwyane Wade, Doc Rivers and Scott Skiles help keep the Marquette name top of mind within the sports world, SI provided the inspiration to take a stroll down Marquette memory lane and discover what past Warriors and Golden Eagles have been up to since their days in Milwaukee.

So, without further ado, part one of Marquette: Lost and Found.

Mike Deane

The 14th head coach in Marquette men’s basketball history, Deane compiled a 100-55 (a .645 winning percentage which also included four trips to the postseason, highlighted by a NIT Runner-Up finish in 1995) record during his five-year (1994-99) Golden Eagles career.

A Stony Point, N.Y. native, Deane came to Marquette after eight years at Siena as Kevin O’Neil’s replacement after O’Neil (fresh off the Warriors’ first Sweet 16 appearance in 15 years) accepted the head coaching position at the University of Tennessee.
In addition to being the first Marquette head coach under the Golden Eagles moniker, Deane coached two future NBA players (Amal McCaskill and Chris Crawford), had only one losing season (a 14-15 mark during the 1998-99 campaign) and secured a national letter of intent from then-Illinois prep player Wade.

After Deane’s final season on the Marquette bench, Deane signed on to be the head coach at Lamar (Texas) University—a position he held for four years (1999-2003) and compiled a career record of 52-62 which included, during his inaugural season, leading the Cardinals to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 17 years—and, his current employer, Wagner College where he is entering his sixth season (and 25th overall within the collegiate ranks) as the Seahawks’ head coach.
While celebrating his 400th career victory and a school-record 23 wins during the 2007-08 season, perhaps the lasting image of Deane at Wagner took place prior to his team’s first scrimmage in November 2007.

In response to the NCAA’s announcement to make bench etiquette a point of emphasis for coaches, Deane –via the assistance of a school faculty employee—responded by outfitting his coach’s chair with a seat belt (no word as to whether the chair was also equipped with driver-side airbags). “I’m not out to embarrass anybody,” said Deane in regards to his views on the NCAA’s memorandum in 2008, according to si.com. “I got the [seatbelt] so I would not cost my team. “ Indeed, the seatbelt proved dividends as the normally hot-tempered Deane received only one technical foul during the first half of the 2007-08 season (Note:  Deane ditched the seatbelt during the season's second half).

A three-time East Coast Conference All-East selection (1972-1974) while playing for The State University of New York at Potsdam (aka, SUNY Potsdam) and ninth-round selection of the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1974 NBA Draft, Deane enters the 2009-10 NCAA season with 432 career victories and a resume that includes guiding nine different teams to 20-plus win seasons.

As the curtain on his fourth decade of coaching (as both an assistant and head coach) is raised in November, Deane will assume his customary spot on the sideline and attack each game full speed ahead—with or without the seatbelt secured firmly around his waist.

Brian Wardle

After a stellar career at Hinsdale Central (Ill.) High School in which he departed as the school’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder (records that have remained unchallenged to this day), Brian Wardle’s transition to the Division I level did not include the customary bumps-in-the-road learning curve encountered by most freshmen.

In fact, upon the culmination of his maiden Marquette season in 1997-98, in which the 6’5” shooting guard averaged 10.3 points and 4.1 rebounds per game, Wardle was named to the Conference USA All-Freshman Team (the fourth MU player to do so) as well as the C-USA Sixth Man of the Year. The best, as they say, was yet to come.

In addition to increasing his scoring averaging 2.7 points per game annually over the course of his four-year career (culminated by a career-high 18.8 ppg his senior season, second in C-USA) and leading Marquette in scoring in each of his final three seasons, Wardle was named C-USA Second Team his junior year and became the first Golden Eagle to be named C-USA First Team his senior season.

At the conclusion of his Marquette career in 2001—in which the Golden Eagles went 54-53—Wardle ranked as the third all-time leading scorer in MU history (presently, Wardle occupies the No. 6 spot) and the second leading scorer in C-USA history with 1,690 points.

Undrafted, Wardle played for the NBDL’s Fayetteville (Ark.) Patriots in 2001 (the first year of the NBA’s minor league) and the Rockford (Ill.) Lightning of the CBA in 2002. After a two-year professional career, however, Wardle returned to Marquette as the director of basketball operations for Tom Crean, his head coach of two years.

From there, Wardle spread his wings in the collegiate game as he accepted an assistant coach position with UW-Green Bay in June 2005. Working under seventh-year head coach (and former Marquette assistant) Tod Kowalczyk, Wardle—who specializes in working with the team’s guards and recruiting, among others—represents the elder statesman among UWGB assistants as he enters his fifth season in Green Bay.

So while his traditional buzz cut has grown out slightly, Wardle’s passion for the game and overall attention to detail remains the same. Most importantly, however, Wardle is back at the collegiate level in an integral role in Wisconsin; a sight Marquette fans will always remember him by.