A Few Marquette Players That Were Extremely Easy To Dislike

The thought of Louisville not having Marquette on their basketball schedule anymore really bothers me. Kentucky is obviously Louisville’s biggest rival and schools like Cincinnati, West Virginia and Memphis have always been thought the be the second tier of rivals for the Cards. Given my age and the era that I grew up watching Louisville basketball, outside of Kentucky, Marquette is the school I dislike the most. There have been some amazing battles between the two programs in the last twenty years. Here are a few former players that I’ve found to be extremely dislikeable.

1.)    Steve Noak

I disliked Steve Novak before he ever even stepped foot on Marquette’s campus. Novak participated in the Kentucky Festival Derby Classic in 2002. I was fortunate enough to meet and get autographs from all of the participants which included Deron Williams, Taquan Dean, Francisco Garcia, and Sheldon Williams among others. All of the players were really nice and friendly with the fans. However, when I walked up and asked Mr. Novak for his autograph, he told me he couldn’t do it because he had a cramp in his hand. I’m still not buying it, dude. He went on to play four successful years at Marquette and I don’t remember him ever missing a free throw during his entire career.

He’s also known for horse collar tackling Brandon Jenkins in 2003. You mess with B.J., you mess with me.

In case you were curious, Novak is playing in the NBA and he’s still a douche.

2.)  Travis Diener

I know all of you remember this guy, right? Travis Diener was a thorn in Louisville’s side during the later days of Conference USA. In a regular season match-up between Louisville and Marquette in 2003, Diener went to the line late in the second half and nailed two game clinching free throws. He then let out and emotional scream that sounded like he was giving birth.

I’m still convinced that Tom Crean was talking about Diener when he sent this creepy Tweet in August.

3.)  Jae Crowder

Crowder doesn’t seem like that bad of a guy, but it would be hard to leave him off the list after his actions in Louisville and Marquette’s regular season meeting last year. He was right. The game was over. However, that type of douche baggery is not accepted.