Wally Ellenson Departs From Marquette Basketball

Rumors bubbled on Thursday morning, Marquette forward Wally Ellenson would no longer be with the Golden Eagles basketball team. Cryptic tweets and unfollows from the Ellenson family pointed in that direction. It was made official on Thursday afternoon. This look doesn't appear to be a good one for Marquette at this juncture. Will that change?  Only Steve Wojciechowski will know that answer.

Ellenson is easily the most expendable player on the roster. Minus who his brother is, he doesn't have a role on this team. Marquette needed someone to go in order to get a big man. My guess is Wojciechowski still recruiting guys was a subtle attempt to get a player to transfer out of Marquette. Some thought Sandy Cohen or Sacar Amin might want a new team, but it didn't happen leaving Marquette with the Ellenson decision.

Wojciechowski cannot cite the track and field being a concern since they allowed that to happen last season.  Did he hint at wanting to try for the Olympics and that scared Wojciechowski?  Ellenson didn't have the best reputation out of Minnesota, and maybe, things changed when his brother left for the pros. Further, maybe there's a Jeronne Maymon situation where the parents are way too involved and pushed for Wally to be a starter. These are the only three things where it might make sense for Wojo to cut bait, and yes, it's pure speculation (For now).

One bridge was burned and two were lit on fire and still burning right now. Ellenson family will not look at Marquette like Jimmy Butler, Dwyane Wade and others do in the NBA so that's kind of awkward. One-and-done kids might be apprehensive to join Marquette given how they treated the Ellensons. The last one, and the biggest is how will brothers feel about this program. What's going through Sam Hauser's mind today?  He's better than Wally, but his younger brother, Joey, is a better talent than him, and a little worse than Henry.  Is it all a rouse to get to Joey?  I hope the Hauser boys aren't asking those questions. He did like Jeff Goodman's tweet, but who knows what that means for him.

At the end of the day, Marquette needs to win now, and sacrifices have been made for the team. My guess is L.J. Gill or Khalif Young are close to signing with Marquette hence why the move was made on Thursday. Both players would give the Golden Eagles the desired size needed for next season. Hope this move pays off for Wojo.


Charlie.