Marquette’s program prides itself on being a testament to the power of perseverance.
The Golden Eagles, who will face off against North Carolina in the Sweet 16, fancy themselves as a collection of players who never give up on or off the court.
There may be something to that viewpoint — the team’s coach and each of its top four scorers have spent time at junior college.
“Their plight to Marquette you can’t change,” Marquette coach Buzz Williams said. “It’s as obscure a plight as mine was to Marquette.”
Quite a winding road led Williams to Marquette.
His odyssey has carried him to nine different schools since he started working in basketball in 1990.
He first spent four years working in the hinterlands of college basketball, finally working in Division I for the first time in 1994 with UT-Arlington.
Five schools later, he found himself in Milwaukee coaching the Golden Eagles (22-14).
“Buzz went his route, and it was a weird route, but there are other guys that did it the same,” North Carolina coach Roy Williams said. “Buzz paid his dues, he’s done a great, great job there, and I have a great relationship with him.”