Luke Fischer talks about his decision to transfer from Indiana to play basketball at Marquette during a news conference in January. Credit: Mark Hoffman

SHARE

By of the

Luke Fischer has had Dec. 16 circled on his calendar since Marquette announced its 2014-'15 basketball schedule.

After transferring from Indiana in the middle of last season to be closer to his hometown of Germantown, Fischer will become an eligible member of the Golden Eagles basketball team Sunday. But Sunday's not that important. It's just another day of practice, another day of waiting.

The 6-foot-11, 245-pound center's nearly yearlong stay in college basketball purgatory will conclude Tuesday, when he takes the floor for the first time in 359 days against Arizona State at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

While Fischer chose to leave Bloomington for the more familiar shores of Milwaukee, being closer to home didn't automatically make the transition perfect.

"It was tough at first," Fischer said. "I was doing a complete 180 from one thing to another. A lot of the guys welcomed me right away like Duane Wilson, who I've known for a while from playing against him in high school.

"Older guys that are gone now, like Jamil Wilson, helped me a lot; Jake Thomas, those guys were able to help bring me in."

As Fischer began to settle in as a member of Buzz Williams' squad, Williams left Marquette to become the head coach at Virginia Tech. That proved to be a blessing for Fischer, who says he and new coach Steve Wojciechowski hit it off immediately.

Wojciechowski reached out to Fischer the day he took over. During that conversation, Fischer said, Wojciechowski indicated he wanted Fischer "to be his man some day." The sophomore center bought right in, eager to exceed the new coach's expectations.

"Marquette feels like a second home to me now," Fischer said. "With Coach Wojo coming in I feel like it's helped even more. The culture from Duke that he brought here has been terrific. I feel like I fit in even more now and it's going to help everyone, especially me."

Sitting on the cusp of being able to contribute has been difficult for Fischer this season. As a transfer, he is able to practice with the team and attend home games but is not allowed to travel.

"As hard as it is for me to not be able to put him in the game, there's nobody that it is harder on than Luke," Wojciechowski said. "He's a competitor. I'm really happy for him that he'll get to finally suit up and compete for us."

Watching Marquette take third place in the Orlando Classic while playing three power conference opponents was especially hard. Fischer felt especially tortured by the game against Michigan State.

"As a kid you dream of playing big schools like that on national TV, especially with Dick Vitale broadcasting the game," Fischer said. "Once I found out he was doing that and the guys got to meet him, I was pretty bummed. I wanted to fly down there just to watch the game myself."

Fischer's not alone in having watched this season from afar. Junior Wally Ellenson, who transferred from Minnesota over the summer, has been by his side this semester.

Before home games, Fischer and Ellenson go out onto the Bradley Center court together for a pre-pre-game shoot-around, mixing serious work with a little goofball fun. It's one of their moments of solidarity that have brought them together.

"Wally has definitely become one of my best friends here," Fischer said. "We really didn't know each other at all before this, but I think with both of us being transfers we have a lot of similarities. Him being from Wisconsin, we have things in common there, too. We just kind of hit it off as soon as he got here."

Over the course of the year, Fischer has not only stayed in game shape, but he's also bulked up. In addition to practices, he hits the weight room five to six days a week and says he has put on a few pounds of muscle.

He also has stayed sharp mentally, leaning on the Golden Eagles coaching staff made up almost entirely of former college players. Wojciechowski says he talks with Fischer every day, and the center appreciates the perspective his head coach provides.

"He can relate to us so well," Fischer said. "He's had times when he hasn't been able to play or he has sat out whole games, so he's helped me a lot with dealing with that stuff."

Following Tuesday's announcement that sophomores Deonte Burton and John Dawson are transferring, leaving Marquette with eight eligible scholarship players, Fischer's return couldn't have come at a better time.

"Luke will really help us on both ends of the floor," said Wojciechowski, who noted that Fischer has been playing well in practice. "He has legit size. He's a smart player. He's a skilled player. I think he will really help us."

Senior Juan Anderson, one of two post players on the team, said Fischer's presence in practice has been beneficial. As a 6-11 center, he gives the 6-6 Anderson and 6-7 Steve Taylor Jr. a tough test.

"I can't wait to get Luke back," Anderson said. "I tell him that every day. He'll definitely be a key piece to the team when he gets back."

Just because Fischer is back on the court doesn't mean he's going to be the knight in shining armor for the Golden Eagles (4-4). He played 13 games at Indiana, averaging 10 minutes, 2.8 points and 2.1 rebounds.

Fischer believes he can make an impact with his size and give Marquette better matchups, especially on defense. He hopes his presence will allow the team to play man-to-man more often and more effectively. On offense he has the ability to spread the floor but does his best work finishing near the basket.

A former Wisconsin Mr. Basketball, state Gatorade Player of the Year and Parade All-American among other high school accolades, Fischer is aware there are high expectations for him, especially among Marquette fans. No matter what he does when he gets on the court, though, he knows that he can't do anything alone.

Fischer has been doing things on his own long enough. He's ready to be a full, contributing member of the team.

"It's a lot of pressure and it's something that I don't necessarily put all on myself," he said. "We're going to go out there as a team and hopefully I'll be able to improve the whole team and once we get going in the full swing of things we can hit a good stride and keep going from there."