McGuire era Al McGuire became the head coach in 1964 and brought the program to national prominence, earning an
NIT Championship in
1970 and a
Final Four appearance in
1974 against the North Carolina State Wolfpack, where McGuire became the first coach
ejected from a championship McGuire coached with assistants Hank Raymonds and
Rick Majerus, who each had their own stints as head of the program following his departure. In his final season as a collegiate head coach, McGuire led Marquette to its only NCAA basketball championship in
1977. Led by
Alfred "Butch" Lee,
Maurice "Bo" Ellis and
Jerome Whitehead, the team beat
UNC Charlotte in the national semifinals after Whitehead received a full-court pass and subsequently made a last-second shot. Two days later, Marquette defeated
Dean Smith's
North Carolina Tar Heels for the title. The team set a record with seven losses going into the NCAA tournament, the most losses up to that time for a team that would win the NCAA Championship.
Crean era Tom Crean took over the program on March 30, 1999. According to Crean, "Once Marquette became available, that's where my sights were. I had unbelievable respect for the tradition and the name. When I thought of Marquette, I thought of a true basketball school and to me that had a lot to do with it." Crean immediately made a number of changes at Marquette, creating a new team image by increasing the significance of the team's media day and instituting a "Midnight Madness" event commonly held by schools on the night teams are allowed to begin practice. Crean's first recruiting class was considered by experts to be among the top twenty in the country, Marquette's first in a long time. In his nine years with Marquette, Crean's teams earned five NCAA tournament bids, one more than the previous four Marquette coaches had in the 16 years prior to his arrival. During his tenure there Crean recruited, developed and coached a number of skilled players that made significant contributions in both the NCAA and NBA, including
Dwyane Wade,
Dominic James,
Steve Novak,
Wesley Matthews, and
Travis Diener. Over his final seven seasons at Marquette, Crean compiled an aggregate record of 160–68 (.702). The 2002–03 season was one of the best in Marquette history. The team made a Final Four appearance for the first time since winning the NCAA Championship in 1977. Crean has referred to the team's run as "one of the greatest four or five days of my life." Later that year, Marquette accepted an offer to leave Conference USA for the
Big East Conference after the 2004–2005 season. Big East commissioner
Mike Tranghese cited his friendship with Crean as contributing to the invitation, saying, "That, to me, was one of the great appeals, to get Tommy as well as Marquette into the league." When Crean was asked why he left Marquette, Crean replied, "It's Indiana. It's Indiana, and that is the bottom line."
Williams era After Crean departed for the head job at Indiana,
Buzz Williams was hired as the new head coach for the
2008–09 season, leading Marquette to a 25–10 record in and a second round loss to the
Missouri Tigers in the
2009 NCAA tournament. He coached Marquette to a 22–12 record in the
2009–10 season, which ended with a close loss to the 11th-seeded
Washington Huskies in the First Round of the
2010 NCAA tournament. During the
2010–11 campaign, Williams led the Golden Eagles back to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since
2003. His team went 22–15 including a 9–9
Big East Conference record. They lost in the quarterfinals of the
2011 Big East men's basketball tournament to
Louisville. Marquette received an at-large bid in the
2011 NCAA tournament. There they defeated
Xavier in the second round (formerly the First Round) and
Syracuse in the Third Round to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. In the Sweet Sixteen, they were defeated by No. 7-ranked and No. 2-seeded
North Carolina. Wiliams'
2012 team returned to the
NCAA tournament after finishing second in the
Big East regular season, finishing 14–4 in conference play. As a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament, they defeated
BYU and
Murray State to advance to their second straight Sweet Sixteen. There, they lost to No. 7-seeded
Florida. After winning a share of the
Big East Men's regular season championship,
Marquette received an at-large bid in the
2013 NCAA tournament as a No. 3 seed. There, they earned come-from-behind victories over
Davidson in the Second Round and
Butler in the Third Round. In the Sweet Sixteen, the school's third straight under Williams, they defeated ACC regular season and conference champion
Miami to earn a trip to Williams's first Elite Eight, where they lost to
Syracuse. The
2013–14 season was Williams' worst at Marquette, finishing 17–15 with a loss to
Xavier in the
Big East tournament.
Wojciechowski era On April 1, 2014,
Steve Wojciechowski was hired as the new Marquette head basketball coach, replacing
Buzz Williams, who left for
Virginia Tech. Before the
2014-15 season, Marquette lost several players, including
Jamil Wilson and
Davante Gardner. The team struggled mightily, finishing 13-19 overall and 4-14 in conference play, tying for last in the conference standings. After beating
Seton Hall in the first round of the
Big East Tournament, Marquette lost to
Villanova in the quarterfinals. Marquette failed to qualify for any postseason tournament. The
2015-16 campaign was highlighted by
Henry Ellenson, a five-star recruit from
Rice Lake, Wisconsin. Ellenson won the 2016 Big East Rookie of the Year award, and was named first-team All-Big East in his lone season in the NCAA. Besides Ellenson,
Luke Fischer and Haanif Cheatham also played significant roles. The Golden Eagles finished the year 20-13, with an 8-10 record in the Big East, placing 7th in the conference. Marquette's season would come to an end after losing to
Xavier in the quarterfinals of the
2016 Big East Tournament. After losing Ellenson to the NBA, Marquette reloaded with 3 four-star recruits joining the
2016-17 team,
Markus Howard,
Sam Hauser, and Brendan Bailey. Despite being picked to finish seventh in the Big East, Marquette finished the season tied for 3rd in the Big East, going 19–13 with a 10–8 record in the Big East. After losing to
Seton Hall in the quarterfinals of the
2017 Big East Tournament, Marquette earned a 10 seed in the
2017 NCAA Tournament, their first appearance since 2013, but lost to eventual final four participants
South Carolina. After losing
Luke Fischer, JaJuan Johnson, and Haanif Cheatham, Marquette added four-star recruits Jamal Cain and Ike Eke, and three-star recruits Theo John and Greg Elliott for the
2017-18 season. The team failed to match the success of the previous season, finishing 21-14 with a 9–9 record in the Big East, tying for 6th in the conference. The team was headlined by Markus Howard, Sam Hauser, and
Andrew Rowsey, with the three combining for 55 PPG during the season. After beating
DePaul in the first round of the
2018 Big East Tournament, Marquette lost to eventual NCAA champion
Villanova in the quarterfinals. Marquette qualified as a 2 seed for the
2018 NIT, beating
Harvard and
Oregon before losing to 4 seed
Penn State in the quarterfinals. The
2018-19 campaign saw the team's first season in the
Fiserv Forum, leaving the
Bradley Center, their home since 1988. The season would end up being the best season of Wojciechowski's tenure at Marquette. Although the team lost Andrew Rowsey, Marquette signed
Joey Hauser, the younger brother of
Sam. The team finished 24-10 with a 12–6 record in the Big East, placing 2nd in the conference. The team saw a remarkable season for Markus Howard, who averaged 25 PPG. Sam and Joey Hauser played supporting roles, along with Theo John and
Sacar Anim. In February, Marquette ranked as high as 10 in the AP poll but lost 5 of their last 9 games of the regular season, including losing dropping 4 straight to close out the regular season. Marquette beat
St. John's in the quarterfinals of the
2019 Big East Tournament, but lost to
Seton Hall in the semifinals, by a score of 79-81. Marquette was picked as a 5 seed in the
2019 NCAA Tournament, where they matched up against
Murray State, led by eventual second overall pick in the
2019 NBA draft,
Ja Morant. Murray State dominated the entire game, upsetting Marquette 83-64. Despite high expectations for the
2019-20 season, the Hauser brothers would transfer out of the program in the offseason, hurting Marquette's chances to make it back to the NCAA tournament. Wojciechowski was able to successfully recruit
Symir Torrence and Dexter Akanno, but the hole left by the Hausers was too great. While Markus Howard averaged 27.8 PPG for the season, becoming Marquette's all-time leading scorer in the process, the team finished with an 18-12 overall record, and an 8-10 record in the Big East, their worst Big East record since 2016. The team was slated to play
Seton Hall in the
2020 Big East Tournament, but the tournament - and the entire season - was halted due to the
outbreak of COVID-19. The
2020-21 season was another disappointment for Marquette. With the departure of Markus Howard, the team struggled, going 13-14 overall, and 8-11 in the Big East. finishing 9th in the Big East. The incoming recruiting class looked promising however, with
Dawson Garcia and
Justin Lewis making an impact. Garcia stated all 27 games and averaged 13 points and 6.6 rebounds for the season, and Lewis averaging 7.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game off the bench.
Smart era On March 26, 2021,
Marquette University hired
Shaka Smart to replace Wojciechowski as the Golden Eagles head coach. As Smart assumed control of the program, many players transferred out, including the promising
Dawson Garcia, Theo John,
Symir Torrence, Jamal Cain, and Koby McEwen. Additionally,
D. J. Carton declared for the
draft. Smart was able to land four key transfers to aid the team for the
2021-22 season: sophomores
Olivier-Maxence Prosper from
Clemson and
Tyler Kolek from
George Mason, along with graduate transfers
Darryl Morsell from
Maryland and Kur Kuath from
Oklahoma. Smart was also able to obtain two four-star recruits from the class of 2021: Emarion Ellis and David Joplin, and three-star Keeyan Itejere, adding to the four-star and three-star that Wojciechowski recruited: Stevie Mitchell and Kam Jones. Marquette finished the season with a surprising 19-13 record, including an 11-8 record in the Big East, tying for 5th in the conference. The team was ranked as high as 18 before a late-season skid saw the team lose 5 of their last 9 regular season games. They faced
Creighton in the
2022 Big East Tournament, but lost 74-63. The team was selected as a 9 seed in the
2022 NCAA Tournament, but lost to 8 seed
North Carolina in the round of 64, 95-63. Marquette was projected to finish 9th in the Big East for the
2022-23 season, but surprised many with their best season in a decade. The team finished with a 29-7 record and won the Big East Regular Season and
Tournament Titles, their first Big East Tournament win in program history. Marquette was selected as a 2 seed in the
2023 NCAA Tournament, beating 15 seed Vermont before losing to 7 seed Michigan State. Marquette came into the
2023-24 season with lofty expectations, despite losing
Olivier-Maxence Prosper to the
NBA. The team never fell below 17th in the AP Poll and finished 3rd in the Big East, with a 27-9 record. In the
2024 Big East Tournament, Marquette beat
Villanova in the quarterfinal and
Providence in the semifinal before losing to
UConn in the final. They were again selected as a 2 seed in the
2024 NCAA Tournament, defeating 15 seed
Western Kentucky and 10 seed
Colorado en route to their first Sweet Sixteen berth since 2013 before losing to 11 seed
NC State, 67-58. ==Postseason results==