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Shaka Smart imagines Giannis Antetokounmpo actually playing at Marquette
The Bucks superstar took to social media to wonder about his NCAA eligibility and if he could play at Marquette.
- Former Marquette player Stevie Mitchell is now playing professional basketball for the G League’s Rio Grande Vipers.
- Mitchell recovered from a significant hip surgery before making the professional roster.
- He is also working remotely for the wealth management firm Baird & Co., focusing on athletes.
Stevie Mitchell has been busy since playing his final season with the Marquette men’s basketball team and graduating last spring with a double major in finance and information systems.
The 6-foot-4 guard rehabbed after a serious surgery, started getting valuable experience in the financial world with a local company, then went after a dream to play professional basketball and made the roster of the G League’s Rio Grande Vipers.
Unsurprisingly, Mitchell attacked everything with the passion that made him a valuable glue guy for the Golden Eagles and an all-time fan favorite.
Mitchell had an opening in his G League schedule and returned to Fiserv Forum on Jan. 27 to receive the McCahill Award, which he earned last year as MU’s top senior scholar-athlete.
“It’s been good,” Mitchell said of playing with the Vipers. “I’ve been enjoying it. I just got to learn.
“It’s a different game than college, which I didn’t believe when people would say. But now that I’m experiencing it, it’s really evident. I’m just grateful to have the opportunity, being in the situation I’m in, and I’m just enjoying every game. Playing, getting to learn and getting better.”
Stevie Mitchell made G League’s Rio Grande Valley Vipers after hip surgery
Pro basketball seemed like a long way off when Mitchell underwent hip surgery after last season. All those charges drawn and hard falls that made him a cult figure among MU fans took a toll on his body. It was a grueling rehab process to get back on the court.
“It ended up being a little longer [than expected after a setback],” Mitchell said. “I figure it was around eight months when I got to play in the first game since the surgery.
“A long time. I don’t think I ever went eight months without playing in a basketball game in my life. But the time was also very beneficial and I feel like I gained a lot of maturity and clarity through being away from something that I was doing pretty much every day for the last 20 years of my life.”
Stevie Mitchell also working for Baird and Co.
Mitchell is part of the Vipers’ rotation, playing about 20 minutes per game. He’s balancing that while working remotely with wealth management firm Baird & Co. He will be back in Milwaukee in the summer working for Baird in person.
“I’m an exempt employee, so I don’t log hours,” Mitchell said. “It’s just what I’m doing right now is working with a team that manages money for people with a lot of money.
“They’re helping me build up my own kind of thing, client base. Focusing on student-athletes, professional athletes and just help them manage their money, take care of their money, protect their money. That’s the track I’m trying to get on right now.”
The ultimate team player, just like Mitchell was at MU.