Marquette alumni were awfully proud of their school on Sunday after the Golden Eagles punched their ticket to the Sweet 16 of the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
This includes its most famous basketball alum: Dwyane Wade .
"Let'sssssssss Goooooo!! Another one! Sweet Sixteen here comes the 🦅 🦅" Wade posted on X (Twitter) and Instagram Sunday afternoon following the Golden Eagles' 81-77 victory over Colorado in the second round of March Madness .
Wade led Marquette to its last Final Four appearance in 2003 before becoming a three-time NBA champion with the Miami Heat and Hall of Famer .
Wade has had an up-close look at Shaka Smart's team a few times this year, including when he watched them reach the championship game of the Maui Invitational early in the season .
Marquette will play NC State in the Sweet 16 on Friday night from Dallas.
Wade wasn't the only former player from that Final Four team to react to the Golden Eagles' exhilarating victory.
Two sophomore starters on that squad — Travis Diener and Todd Townsend — also expressed their joy for the team.
Diener, whose shining moment on that 2003 team came in the second round of the NCAA Tournament when he had a game-high 26 points in a 101-92 overtime win over Missouri, wrote: "These young boys play for each other with passion and spirit! The culture that Shaka and his staff have installed in such a short period is incredible. And it doesn't hurt to have the best point guard in the country! We are Marquette!"
Diener, of course, was referring to Tyler Kolek , the two-time All-American who has had two sparkling performances in the Golden Eagles' first two NCAA Tournament games . He has posted double-doubles for points and assists in both rounds and produced clutch plays on Sunday in helping Marquette snap an 11-year Sweet 16 drought.
REVIEW: Highlights from Marquette's win over Colorado in second round of NCAA Tournament
What stood out to Townsend was the passion in which Smart and Kolek spoke during his post-game interview : "That win for Marquette…watching the post game interview…You can tell it means so much more for that team and staff. They are so connected. They love each other. It's really hard to build that type of culture in college athletics but it can be done."
Here is that on-court interview:
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Dwyane Wade reacts to Marquette basketball advancing to Sweet 16
