Marquette junior Vander Blue will forgo his senior year to enter the NBA Draft. He plans to sign with an agent.

Vander Blue ends his three-year career at Marquette with 80 starts in 106 games. He has career averages of 9.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists per outing. He finished with 982 points and just missed becoming the 45th player in school history with 1,000 career points.

Here are Vander Blue’s thoughts on his career at Marquette:

“I’ve had three great years here and appreciate everything Marquette has done for me during that time to help me develop. At this point I want to pursue my dream. I’ve prayed about it and discussed it with my family and think this is the right decision for me at this time.”

“I really want to thank all of the coaches and staff at Marquette for helping me become a better player and a man,” Blue added. “I also loved and appreciate the support shown by Marquette fans across the country during my career, especially during home games at the Bradley Center.”

Head coach Buzz Williams said this about Vander Blue:

“As a program, we are all very thankful for everything Vander has done to help our team over the last three years, but more importantly I admire the growth he has made off the floor as a person. He has had success in each role that he has played every year he has been here, and has continued to improve. We will always be grateful for his contributions and wish him nothing but the best in his professional career.”

Best of luck to Vander Blue in the NBA Draft.

Darius Johnson-Odom was drafted 55th by the Dallas Mavericks. Johnson- Odom  scored a team-high 18.3 points and 2.7 assists for the Marquette last season.

Congratulations Darius!

Looks like Jae Crowder will be joining his teammate in Dallas as he was traded to them by the Mavericks. It will be great to see those two together again.

Marquette’s Jae Crowder has been picked 34th by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Crowder was the Big East Player of the Year for the 2011-2012 season and  he averaged 17.5 points and, 8.4 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game.

Congratulations Jae! We know you’ll make Marquette Nation proud.

Crowder was traded to the Dallas Mavericks where he will join Marquette teammate Darius Johnson-Odom.

It’s NBA Draft time! Marquette had two potential draft picks on Jae Crowder and Darius Johnson-Odom.

I’ve been reading projections and both have the potential to go late in the second round. If either or both get picked it will be the third year in a row that a Marquette basketball player has been taken in the NBA draft.

Best of luck to both of them. Marquette nation will be watching.