Marquette's 'Head of the Spear'

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Every Marquette player has a team defined role. For defensive wizard and Marquette senior guard Stevie Mitchell, it's "head of the spear."

"Just set the tone from the start, just in terms of our aggression, intensity. Really just everything," said Mitchell on what the role means to him.

Growing into the role took time, but it was easy to buy in.

"When I got here my freshman year, just to get on the court I had to be right defensively, so I just wanted to play. So I just really put my intention on that," said Mitchell. " I just want to win, so playing hard, competing hard on defense is a way to get that job done."  

For Marquette head coach Shaka Smart, he could see Mitchell's potential as a freshman in his third career game against Illinois, an 67-66 win.

"He played the last 10 minutes of that game and didn't come out just because he was being Stevie. He was getting his hand on the basketball, he was defending, he was flying around. He was playing with incredible spirit and energy so we couldn't sub him out. That was his freshman year when he didn't really know what he was doing yet," said Smart.

Now, Mitchell is fulfilling a team mantra of getting deflections and causing disruption. He is fifth all-time in program history with 215 steals. Averaging a career-high 2.3 steals per game through the regular season, placing him amongst the nation's leaders.

"Nothing that Stevie does is unexpected. I've come to expect it but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate it," said Smart. "It doesn't go without noticing how special he is."

"People just don't expect me to get to the ball sometimes, and they pass it or dribble it, and I just play incredibly hard and that just puts me in position to get my hand on the ball," said Mitchell.

Mitchell's efforts also have him on the watchlist for Naismith Defensive Player of the Year.

"I never would have thought it was an expectation coming into college. That was not what my expectations were," said Mitchell on landing on the list of 15 players. "The biggest thing is being able to allow working towards getting those awards result in wins. Because winning is the most important thing. Because without winning, stats, recognition, it's honestly just pointless."  

Marquette is 22-9 coming off back-to-back single-digit losses. Entering postseason play, Mitchell wants to win and lead with gratitude whether in the classroom (Mitchell is going for his sixth straight 4.0 GPA semester), or on the court for his time at Marquette.

"I really love this place. It will be a part of me forever. I'll forever wear Marquette gear. I'll forever be proud to say I went to Marquette, played at Marquette," said Mitchell. "I'm super happy that I ended up here. How things have went the way they've went."  

Marquette faces Xavier in the Big East Tournament on Thursday, March 13, at 1:30 p.m. at Madison Square Garden.