Zaide Lowery will not finish his junior season of college basketball at Marquette. The 6-foot-5 guard is no longer part of the team after he started the first nine games of the year.
It appears as though his departure has something to do with an altercation but the Golden Eagles dispute the exact account of what happened.
This is just the latest unfortunate development for Marquette during a frustrating start to the college basketball season. Unanswered questions continue to linger.
Who is Zaide Lowery?
A former four-star recruit, Lowery committed to Marquette in the Class of 2023 out of Kickapoo High School in Missouri and La Lumiere School in Indiana. He chose to play for head coach Shaka Smart over Kansas State and Missouri State.
His first two seasons were neither good nor bad. Lowery averaged 1.6 points and 1.4 rebounds in 9.5 minutes as a freshman and 4.1 points and 3.0 rebounds in 15.8 minutes as a sophomore.
This was supposed to be his breakout year.
Lowery started the first nine games of the 2025-26 season. The Golden Eagles lost games to Indiana, Maryland, Dayton and Oklahoma. He got benched in favor of freshman Adrien Stevens in a loss to Wisconsin on Dec. 6 and played only 12 minutes in a loss to Purdue on Dec. 13.
That’s when it got weird. Lowery did not come off of the bench at all in a loss to Georgetown on Dec. 17 to open Big East Play. Nor did he play against Creighton on Dec. 20.
In fact, he didn’t even travel with the team to Omaha. Marquette cited “personal reasons.”
He is no longer a member of the Marquette basketball team.
It was announced on late Sunday night that Zaide Lowery will not return to the program for the second academic semester in 2026. He is no longer part of the team.
Lowery averaged 8.1 points and 2.9 rebounds this season amid the bizarre lineup drama. The reason for his sudden disappearance is unclear.
“I would like to thank Zaide for his many contributions to our program over the last two and a half years,” coach Shaka Smart said in a statement released by the school. “We wish him the best in all of his future pursuits on and off the court.”
That was the only information provided, which allowed for speculation to run wild. A user on X made the following claim about Lowery’s exit:
“Tough news to share: Zaide Lowery will not return for the second semester after being dismissed from the team by Shaka Smart following an altercation with assistant coach Cody Hatt,” wrote @Whitesoxbill.
The official team account for Marquette disputed this account of what happened.
“The information regarding the altercation is inaccurate.”
Hm. That does not provide much clarity on why Lowery was removed from the roster.
The team account referred to the alleged altercation as the altercation, which seems to imply there was in fact an altercation. Either that, or the post is poorly worded. No further information has been provided.
There is a theory that this post from the Golden Eagles is just damage control. Other people who claim ties to the program allege the altercation actually involved Smart and not the assistant. We don’t know.