We got exactly what we wanted from the Pennsylvania native in his senior year, plus a little bit more, too.
With the 2024-25 season long since in the books, let’s take a few moments to look back at the performance of each member of YOUR Marquette Golden Eagles this year. While we’re at it, we’ll also take a look back at our player previews and see how our preseason prognostications stack up with how things actually played out. We’ll run through the roster in order of total minutes played going from lowest to highest, and today we’ll move along to everyone’s hustle player……..
Stevie Mitchell
Senior — #4 — Guard — 6’3” — 200 lbs. — Reading, Pennsylvania
*- notes a top 400 national ranking per KenPom.com
**- notes a top 300 national ranking per KenPom.com
***- notes a top 125 national ranking per KenPom.com
****- notes a #11 national ranking per KenPom.com
WHAT WE SAID:
Reasonable Expectations
MOAR STEVIE MITCHELL THINGS, PLEASE.
That’s it.
Okay, FINE, we’ll look at the Torvik algorithm.
10.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists, less than 28 minutes a game. You know what the funny part is? In my head, I instantly thought that the 28 minutes part is the silliest part of that….. but Mitchell hasn’t averaged even 27 minutes a night in the last two seasons. He got to 27.5 in Big East play last season and went all the way up to 32 after Tyler Kolek went out with injury through the NC State game that ended the year, but on average, nope, not 28 minutes.
I would also like it very much if Mitchell manages to shoot 33.3% from three-point range for an entire season. Sophomore year: 30% even. Junior year: 26.5%. Wrong direction, my friend! Marquette’s going to need whatever offensive pop they can find this season, at least until they find a post-Kolek & Ighodaro rhythm, so having Mitchell as a positive long range contributor is going to be kiiiind of a requirement. The good news in that department is that he shot 40.6% in Big East games….. but the bad news is he shot 2-for-9 when Tyler Kolek was hurt, and 22% is not so nice.
Why You Should Get Excited
I mean, if you aren’t fired up for another 30+ games of Stevie Mitchell hustle plays and Energy Generating Behaviors, please consult with your physician.
However, I would note that there’s a least a little bit of “hey, what if this thing happens?” involved with Mitchell’s final campaign in blue and gold.
Aside: I don’t think this picture is from the precise moment this exchange happened, but I do like Shaka Smart’s “well, dang it, we’re officially the Cussin At Media Day team now, huh” reaction face.
I’m not going to try and tell you that Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner didn’t deserve to be Big East Defensive Player of the Year for the third consecutive season last March. I am going to tell you that Patrick Ewing and Alonzo Mourning are the only other two men to ever win it three times, and no, I do not think that “Just Big” Ryan Kalkbrenner is on their level.
I am also going to tell you that I think it would be very fun to watch Stevie Mitchell run wild across the country in an effort to stop Kalkbrenner from matching Ewing with a fourth straight DPOY trophy. It would seem that Kam Jones’ attitude on the topic tells us that the team in general is annoyed about this snub from last season, and if they all bond together to be a great defensive team in order to make Mitchell look even better in that regard….. well, who am I to complain about that?
Potential Pitfalls
I don’t even have The I Word as a problem to insert here. Mitchell missed four games with a hamstring issue in December last season, and then was in and out of a shoulder sleeve/brace towards the end of the campaign. None of this slowed him down other than the “Shaka Smart didn’t put him in a game” thing. Came back from the hamstring, went right on being Stevie Mitchell. Was probably never 100% from the hamstring, went right on being Stevie Mitchell. Tacked on a shoulder ding, went right on being Stevie Mitchell.
Other than that, the things that Stevie Mitchell excels at for Marquette are mostly speaking not the things that show up in a box score. He’s going to be able to keep on doing those things even if his shot isn’t working or whatever the misfortune of the day might be. I don’t really have a downside for him…… but I would really suggest not shooting under 27% on three-pointers again, no matter the long strange path to get there.
Stevie Mitchell started off the year hopping on the stationary bicycle when he checked out of games to stop his Achilles tendinitis from tightening up after he got warmed up and moving. Mitchell spent the season having his practice minutes managed by the coaching staff because he only knows one way to play: 100% all the way, all the time. He ended the season getting hip surgery after everything was all wrapped up.
When all was said and done, Mitchell posted career highs in points per game, assists per game, steals per game, and minutes per game, and also tied his career best for rebounds per game. He shot a career best 35.8% from behind the three-point line. Those career bests are just because he logged the most minutes of his career, either. Mitchell had career bests for points and steals in terms of Per 40 minutes numbers, and his rebounding number per 40 (6.0) wasn’t that far off last year’s high of 6.3.
Mitchell had a career best offensive rating per KenPom.com and finished the year at #13 in the Big East in that department. We saw his career best in turnover rate — 3rd lowest in the entire Big East! — which maximized the benefit to Marquette from his career best steal rate, where he ranked #11 in the country.
Was he making an impact for the Golden Eagles? You betcha. Hoop Explorer shows us that against top 150 opponents, Marquette’s foes scored six points per 100 possessions less when Stevie Mitchell was on the floor as opposed to the 13-ish minutes per game where he was on the bench. The offense was roughly about the same, but hey: Mitchell earned his playing time by playing defense, as long as he was net neutral on the offensive end — and he was adding a point per 100 possessions! — you’d take the major impact on the other end 11 times out of 10.
What am I trying to say here? I’m trying to say that Stevie Mitchell left it all on the court for Marquette, possibly literally. Given the six month recovery time on the hip surgery, that probably means that whatever professional basketball options are out there for Mitchell are going to the back burner in the immediate future….. and might end up closing off for good depending on how his recovery from the surgery goes. The NCAA tournament game against New Mexico might end up being the last time that Stevie Mitchell suits up for a high level competitive game, so we have to tip our cap and say THANK YOU to one of the toughest competitors to ever pull on the blue and gold.
BEST GAME
I’m going to cheat here and say it’s a two-game pairing. At home against Villanova, in an 87-74 victory, Mitchell picked up his second KenPom.com game MVP award of the season after putting 21 points, four rebounds, three assists, and three steals on the Wildcats. He did this by torturing Villanova inside, shooting 6-for-7 on twos and getting to the free throw line eight times, making six. Four days later, at Butler, Mitchell had a career high 22 points to go with five rebounds, three assists, and a steal in a 78-69 win over the Bulldogs. Once again: Killing BU inside, going 7-for-11 on two-point attempts. No KenPom.com MVP for that one, as it inexplicably went to Jahmyl Telfort in a loss. We gotta get a KenPom rule in place where you can’t have a losing team MVP when it’s more than a two possession difference, especially not when the home team loses.
SEASON GRADE
Yeah, I don’t care, I’m giving Stevie a 10. He hit the Torvik algorithm’s projections for his season, he was one of 10 semifinalists for national defensive player of the year even though he’s a 6’3” guard, he posted career bests in multiple departments on his way out the door, and might have set a Marquette record for “most nagging injuries played through at one time.” We got everything Stevie Mitchell could possibly give us in 2024-25, and so I’m giving him the best possible score in return.
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