Remember this?


^{Photo: YouTube}

Or, more importantly, this?



Marquette University fans, do. Duane Wilson assuredly does.

Unfortunately, they remember this, too.

#mubb guard Duane Wilson to redshirt in 2013-14. Freshman yet to play for MU after preseason leg injury. — MarquetteMBB (@MarquetteMBB) December 27, 2013

The waiting is indeed, the hardest part.

Basketball fans in Milwaukee have been waiting since March 9, 2013, the date of Wilson’s last appearance in a game. Then a senior at Dominican, he led the Knights to their second straight WIAA Division 4 state title with a 26-point effort on the floor of the Kohl Center in Madison.

When Marquette opens up the 2014-15 season in about four weeks, it will be the first time Wilson dons the Golden Eagles uniform, under the lights of the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

He has a new coach now, new teammates.

A lot has changed since the spring of 2012, when he put on that hat.

For Wilson, he believes one key thing hasn’t – his game.

But he says he isn’t going to do anything out of the ordinary to display it, even if there are questions.

"A lot of people want see, is he ... can he still do the same things? Has my game improved?" he said. "It’s going to be a big year for me and the team. I really just focus on winning. I think as (we) win, that’s when my game will show. It’s a team thing first. If my team’s winning, I’m going to look good. I feel like that’s what we need to work on. I really focused on being a leader and working on my team."

His role is yet to be determined, and will likely evolve as the season, and years go by. He was a dynamic, scoring point guard, on this roster you’ve got 6-1 senior captain Derrick Wilson and fellow 6-2 guards John Dawson and Matt Carlino.

Then you’ve got more traditionally sized off guards in Jujuan Johnson (6-5) and Deonte Burton (6-4).

"I look at Duane as a guard," Golden Eagles head coach Steve Wojciechowski said. "I think he’s a guy who is capable of running a team, I think he’s a guy who’s capable playing off the ball. In fact, a lot of his best moments thus far, early in the season, have come with his ability to drive and score the ball.

"He has a knack for scoring."

The combinations could be interesting for teammates and opponents alike, but Duane Wilson isn’t too concerned as what designation he’s given – as long as he’s given one.

"I told coach to put me at wherever position he wants to play me at to win," Wilson said. "Right now he’s playing on and off the ball. It’s just really depends on the situation. He can play me, Derrick and Matt at the same time. There’s not too many teams in America that can play three point guards at once."

For Wilson, who won prolifically as a prep player, it remains about that at Marquette. But in a year during which the Golden Eagles will open with nine eligible players on Nov. 14 against Tennessee-Martin, Wilson, Wojciechowski – everyone – will be hoping, needing, the wait to be worth it.

"I’m excited for him," Wojciechowski said. "Having had to sit out last year, it’s hard not having played a year."

"I’m too anxious," Wilson admitted. "Every once in a while coach just takes me, calls me over in practice, like 'calm down.' It’s just … having to sit out last year and watching my team play and not being able to play; and especially being a hometown kid, from being like a hyped player (and) everybody wanting to see me play – now it’s my time. I’m really excited to show everybody what I can do."