By now, you should be more than familiar with our series of regularly updating leaderboards
for various Marquette Golden Eagles sports accomplishments. Keep checking back to that link in the previous sentence for our charts as the seasons continue to churn through history and MU’s various teams continue to create new memories and accomplishments.Here, we’re going to talk the record for most made free throws in a Marquette men’s basketball career.
For a very long time, this record seemed untouchable.
Heck, I bet that when George Thompson finished with 457 made free throws in 1969, that might have felt untouchable. Thompson had passed Bob Wolf’s record set in 1967, while Thompson was on the team, and Wolf only got to 393 freebies. Shooting 64 free throws past that for a new record must have felt like a rocket shot of a jump.
Unfortunately for George Thompson’s spot in the record book, Dean Meminger was already on his way to doing to Thompson what Thompson had just done to Bob Wolf. When Dream finished up in 1971, he had 493 free throws up and in for his career. That’s 36 more than Thompson and exactly 100 more than Wolf had established as the record just four years earlier!
After that, things slowed down. Butch Lee got to 403 in 1978. Tony Smith hit 406 in 1990. 20 years went past, then 30, and no one was able to get to Meminger’s record. Not until Wesley Matthews enrolled in 2005. With just 63 made free throws in his freshman season, I don’t think anyone’s radar tipped that something special was brewing. With 141 and 132 free throws in his next two seasons, Matthews was up to 336 in his career. Obviously he was going to get into the top 10, but 160-ish free throws to get Meminger? Feels like pushing it, right? He had to lead the Big East in attempts in 2006-07 with 183 to get to 141 at a 77% shooting clip. What’s he going to do, shoot 80% on 200 attempts to have a chance at this?
How about 83% on a Big East best 257 attempts? Wesley Matthews fired in 213 made free throws in his senior season to lead the Big East and go rocketing past Meminger to 1) become the first Marquette player to ever sink 500 FTs in his career and 2) set the record at 549 makes.
And then Markus Howard wrapped up the 2018-19 season leading the Big East in attempts, makes, and shooting percentage, ultimately finishing his junior year with 388 made free throws after a campaign of 227. He went into his senior year needed just 162 free throws to break Matthews’ record, and that went down with ease. As it turns out, the only thing stopping him from becoming the first Marquette player with 600 made free throws in a career was a global pandemic, as Howard finished his career with just 599 makes. The 2019-20 season was shut down before Howard played a Big East tournament game, and that Marquette team was going to make the NCAA tournament. Howard had at least two games left to go to add on to what was a Big East lead in both attempts and makes, but everything was cut short at that point.
It feels like as long as Shaka Smart is the head coach, it’s going to be hard for anyone to take a run at 150 made free throws per season as an average to break Howard’s record. Kam Jones finished with 163 made free throws for a four year career, and Tyler Kolek had 203 in his three seasons with the Golden Eagles after not even getting to 90 in either his junior or senior years. The nature of the offensive structure is designed to get open layups and open jumpers, and it’s hard to draw fouls doing either one of those things. It’s going to take a 90% free throw shooter who draws a ton of contact to do it. We saw it once with Howard, is it possible to ever see it again?
Here’s what the top 10 list looks like after the end of the 2025-26 season.
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