The crowd cheers, Iggy the Eagle moonwalks on the sidelines and T-shirts parachute from the ceiling to the stands. You’re at a Marquette men’s basketball game and odds are, you run into one particular Marquette student.
Nathan Marzion
“I started going to Marquette games when I was seven or eight with my dad. I was a really big fan from the very start,” Marzion says.
Marzion grew up in Muskego, Wisconsin, just 26 minutes from Marquette, where his dad graduated from college. Following in his father’s footsteps, Nathan will be graduating from Marquette University in the spring of 2022, but leaving college does not mean leaving Marquette basketball.
“I’m such a passionate sports fan that I do want to try to go into something with sports analysis, sports writing or sports anything,” Marzion says.
Such a passion must be shared and in Marzion’s case, it’s shared via Twitter.
“My twitter account started growing when I like first got on campus as a freshman,” Marzion says. “I quickly got a reputation as the guy that is always at the games and tweets about Marquette ball.”
Marzion’s Twitter is currently followed by 27,100 users.
“It’s been cool to see that (account) grow and become a part of who I am. It’s something I’m passionate about. It’s something that I have fun doing,” says Marzion.
Despite graduation approaching, Marzion is confident in continuing his “superfan” role for many seasons to come.
“It’s just something that’s been passed along in my family,” Marzion says. “Watching him emit that love for Marquette caused me to like the team too. It’s really cool to see how our passions are passed down like that.”
Julie Taggart
As of September 2021, Julie Taggart hit 16 years cancer free but it was cancer that led her to what became one of her life’s greatest gifts Taggart recalls. The gift? Marquette women’s basketball. Almost ten years ago, Taggart met her team.
“My husband and I were in Milwaukee for a Susan G. Komen breast cancer event at the Milwaukee Art Museum and all of a sudden there was a group of very large, very tall women all walking over towards me and it happened to be the Marquette women’s basketball team volunteering for the event,” Taggart says.
Taggart and her husband, Timothy, had no previous affiliation with Marquette University, but that all changed when Taggart was asked be a part of the breast cancer awareness Pink Game. From that moment forward Taggart became a full-force MWBB fan.
“I love being a part of the Pink Game. I’ve sung the national anthem at the Pink Game before,” Taggart says. “I’ve had coach Duffy invite me to a dinner the night before with the team to talk about my experience with cancer.”
The evil finger of cancer touches all lives in one way or another.
“There have been more people than I would like to think that have faced that battle. So, I really try to live by the visible survivor motto,” Taggart says.
Taggart and her husband may not have children of their own, but they do have a whole basketball team.
“My first reaction is always that I just want to hug them (the players) all,” Taggart says.
Nyah Daniel
While Daniel may be a first-year student, her love for basketball has already influenced her college life.
“I enjoy posting their (Marquette Basketball) stuff on social media, mainly on my Instagram story. Sometimes I’ll do it on Snapchat, but I try and post and spread the word for people not in attendance,” Daniel says.
For Daniel, being a superfan is another way to shape her future career of sports marketing.
“Just being around the environment of the sport pushes me and motivates me to move to that next level in pursuing my career here at Marquette,” Daniel says.
Though Daniel has a handful of years until she secures her diploma, she says she plans to bleed blue and gold for the rest of her life.
“I’ve seen how like strongly alums are here, so I feel that one day I’ll be able to look back and realize I’m in their shoes now,” Daniel says.
This article was written by Ava Mares. She can be reached at ava.mares@marquette.edu or on Twitter @avamaresMU.