June 5, 2006

MILWAUKEE - Former Marquette great Dwyane Wade has helped the Miami Heat advance to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history by defeating the Detroit Pistons in six games in the Eastern Conference Final. The Heat sealed its fate in The Finals with a 95-78 game six victory over Detroit at the American Airlines Arena Friday, June 2. The Heat will meet the Dallas Mavericks for Game 1 on Thursday, June 8, at 8 p.m. CDT in Dallas.

One of the most decorated players in Marquette Basketball history, Wade had a profound impact during his three-year affiliation with the Golden Eagles' program. Wade helped lead Marquette to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances, including a spot in the 2003 Final Four, as well as the 2002-03 Conference USA Regular Season Championship. Also in 2003, he was Marquette's first Associated Press First Team All-American since 1978, the 2002-03 Conference USA Player of the Year and one of five finalists for the Wooden Award.

Behind his leadership and stellar play from 2001 to 2003, Marquette's 53-13 mark was the sixth best among NCAA Division I programs over that period of time.

Currently, Wade is seventh in the league in post season averaging 26.2 points per game while connecting on 51 percent of his attempts from the floor. In the six-game series with the Pistons, Wade averaged 26.7 points per game and made 61.7 percent of his attempts from the floor in 40.4 minutes per game. He poured in a postseason high 35 points in the Heat's 98-83 Game 3 win over Detroit.

In the regular season, Wade was fifth in the league in scoring (27.2 ppg) and 11th in assists (6.7 apg) while helping the Heat to the number two seed in the 2006 playoffs and eventually the Eastern Conference Title. The Heat topped Chicago in the First Round (4-2) and New Jersey in the Conference Semifinals (4-1) before facing Detroit in the Eastern Conference Finals.