​Will Ethan Johnston’s defense be enough of a calling card to earn him minutes as a freshman? | Credit: Marquette University The 2026-27 college basketball season is right around the corner, so let’s dive into the Marquette men’s basketball roster and take a look at what to expect from each player this season. Going forward in these Player Previews, we’ll be going in this order: The two freshmen going in alphabetical order by last name then doing the same for the three transfers, then moving on to the redshirt freshmen. After that, it’s the seven players returning from last year’s roster going in order of average minutes played per game last season.We’re going to organize our thoughts about the upcoming season as it relates to each player into categories, as we always do:Reasonable ExpectationsWhy You Should Get ExcitedPotential PitfallsWith that out of the way, we close out our look at the new freshmen on the roster…Ethan JohnstonFreshman — #33 — Guard — 6’7” — 210 lbs. — Queens, New YorkWell, let’s just get this out of the way. Yes, Ethan Johnston, just like Johnston Hall on campus, the home of the Diederich College of Communication. No, he is not a Comms major according to his team bio page, electing to study finance in the College of Business Administration instead. Ethan Johnston committed to Marquette waaaaay back in May of 2025. He was the first of head coach Shaka Smart’s two Class of 2026 prospects to make their pledge to join the Golden Eagles. Here’s some quotes from Johnston as relayed by On3 at the time of his commitment:“I chose Marquette because of not only their belief in me, but because of their three core values which is relationships, growth, and victory. They demonstrated those to me on a daily basis.”What led to his trust in the coaching staff?“They established a connection with me and my family early on. Whether they were giving me tidbits on how I can improve or watching me play. I felt the love from the whole coaching staff. It’s like a real family. Witnessing that firsthand is what made it a no brainer decision for me and my family.”In his own words, what type of player is Marquette getting in Johnston?“I am a big guard, I can do it all on offense and defense. I guard 3 positions, I can handle, shoot, and I love making my teammates better by getting them shots in the right spots.”He has a message for Marquette fans.“I can guarantee y’all that I will give my heart and soul to the team and this fanbase. Y’all got a winner.”Here’s what Marquette put in the Signing Day press release last November:Johnston (6-7, 185) is a three-year letterwinner under head coach Seth Eilberg at The Hill School and was a unanimous First Team All-MAPL selection as both a sophomore and a junior. He averaged 15.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game as a junior and helped the program to school-record 25 wins and a trip to conference and state tournament title games in 2024-2