David Joplin: College Basketball Player, Marquette University

The Ballers Magazine
Jun 24
13 min read

Born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, David Joplin's earliest memories with basketball come from watching the NBA and playing the sport recreationally as a kid. For him it was simple: basketball was just really fun. It was a world where he could meet new people, form new friendships, and let his creativity run wild. It was after receiving his first collegiate offer in the eighth grade though that he discovered the array of opportunities available within the game. "It was confirmation. It was like 'Let's see how far I can take it'," David shares. This was just the beginning. Throughout his time in high school, at Brookfield Central

Grab Your Print Copies Here

H.S., David continued to develop his game further and work towards the opportunity to play at the next level. He was on a mission. Sure enough, he did just that. Upon graduating from high school, David embarked on his collegiate career at Marquette University. It wasn't all smooth sailing though. As a freshman, David recalls having to quickly adjust to the physicality and defensive intensity of the game. A challenge that he embraced and one that—as he highlights— taught him about the importance of belief, preparation, focus, and maximum effort. The rest is history! From winning a BIG EAST Conference Title to earning the BIG EAST Sixth Man of the Year Award as a sophomore to finishing his career as Marquette’s all-time leader in games played, David fostered an incredible personal legacy both on and off the court throughout his four years at Marquette. As he looks to the next chapter, David is thrilled for all that's in store. Currently preparing for the 2025 NBA Draft, David is looking forward to earning an opportunity to play basketball at the professional level. Along with this, he is also excited to continue using his platform to inspire the next generation of athletes to stay focused, work hard, and pursue their dreams relentlessly. Amazing!

Take us back to your time in high school! Your sophomore year you guys won the school's first championship and then as a junior you also won the league title. Could you share more with us about your journey in high school?

The journey was special. It was a lot of ups and downs like any journey. My freshman year, I was just so young out there trying to learn everything and help each other—I remember in the playoffs we were upset by this team and this guy that I had to guard was like destroying me. He had like 30 points and I'll never forget that. I don't remember his name, but I just remember that he was way bigger than me. He was way stronger than me. He was posting me up the whole game, and I will never forget that upset. After that, you know, you go to the next year and you don't know what to expect. We ended up having a really good year but one of our best guys went out right at the end of the year. We had one more game left in the regular season, and we lost that game. (From there), we were kind of shook. We didn't know what to expect. After we lost that game, we won every game after that—that was a really special year. The senior class that year was really special to me. They were kind of like my big brothers and we all dedicated that season to them. Then, my junior year, was COVID. We were 24-1. We were the hottest team in the state, nobody could touch us. So we win our game, our quarterfinal game, and then the COVID thing comes out. We didn’t have school the next week, and then the next day they said they cancelled the games. We were like, “We have a week left of the season. We can't just finish it?” But you know, we thought school was only going to be cancelled for two weeks because that’s kind of what everyone was saying; but we never came back to school after that for like a year. Then, playing COVID basketball my senior year with the masks on and everything was a mess but they ended up finding a way for us to play. We lost that year in the semifinals to a really good team, so I’m not mad at that one.

After your time in high school, you took that next step and started your collegiate career at Marquette University. How was that transition from high school to college like for you? What were some challenges that you faced early on?

Man, it was very difficult for me (going) from high school to college. In high school, you know, you're not really playing anybody—no offense to Wisconsin Basketball at the time but I just kind of breezed through it. I kind of did whatever I wanted in high school. Then when I got to college, everybody was nice. Everybody was the best from where they were from, and I really struggled. I really struggled—especially on the defensive (end). Offensively, I was good. But on defense, I couldn't guard anybody. Playing for Coach Smart, you have to be able to guard...so that really hindered me my first year. That first summer on campus, I was lifting every day, practicing every day, and I became exhausted. I really struggled. You know, my teammates really, really, really helped me throughout that year because there were days—and everybody has those days—where you get home and everything's weighing you down; and then you realize you gotta to do the same thing tomorrow. But, I couldn't have gotten through it without my teammates.

You mentioned having to grow in your physicality early on. How did you work on that particular area and how did you continue to strengthen it throughout your career at Marquette?

The two things I did were lift and play more—just (getting) reps out of games. I didn't play many games. You know, we had these things called the ‘walk-on lifts’ which were these lifts that the walk-ons would do because they weren’t playing. They would lift more than the players. A lot of us as freshmen weren't playing either, so we joined them (*laughs*). The lifts were crazy. They were really difficult—a lot of reps, a lot of weight. We just said, “You know what, let's just try to get as strong as we can. We're not playing, so we might as well try to get stronger.” After that freshman year, I played so much basketball that summer and got more reps. I was playing against guys who were really good. I was guarding guys who were really good. We had one guy who came and joined our team—he’s a really, really good friend of mine—, and we kind of clicked from there. His thing was defense. I just wanted to be like him and tried to use him to get better. You know, see what he did. So I was really blessed to have him come join our squad for that year and we ended up having a really good year that sophomore year.