(Photo: Brian Spurlock/US Presswire)
It looked like a normal summer workout day at the Weatherup Center, where the ASU basketball team practices.
Players filed into the complex with shirts off, tattoos showing, and water jugs in hand. By now, if it wasn’t before, it’s become the regular routine for every player on the Sun Devil basketball squad. That is, every player but one.
Walking into practice in the early morning hours as the unforgiving Arizona sun beats down may not be an occurrence Jermaine Marshall has experienced often, but the Pennsylvania native will endure plenty of it very soon.
Marshall, a 6-foot-4, fifth-year senior transfer from Penn State, spoke to the media for the first time on Monday.
Head coach Herb Sendek introduced Marshall.
“He has already proven himself to be an excellent player at the highest level of college basketball,” Sendek said.
Which is true. Marshall was the sixth-leading scorer in the prestigious Big Ten conference last season with 15.3 points per game.
However, when asked how playing in the conference when the competition was at its zenith, Marshall answered honestly.
“It was rough,” he said.
This has to be encouraging for both Sun Devil fans and Marshall alike knowing the guard will now be playing against a slight dip in competition.
Success came for Marshall in games such as the 25-point, six-rebound, 47-percent shooting night where Penn State defeated the fourth-ranked Michigan Wolverines.
Performances like that can keep an NBA dream alive, and in Marshall’s case he says that dream is still very real. The new ASU guard said his dreams of the league were a factor in transferring to Tempe. He wanted to give his NBA hopes one last shot, and he believes he is only a couple of tweaks away from being league-ready.
Although it is Marshall’s first year with ASU, his leadership role with the team was brought up early and often at the press conference.
“It’s my fifth year now so I think I have a pretty good understanding of the game,” Marshall said. “Coming in and being a senior is something I have to do.”
Sendek raved about Marshall’s character, and was excited to add the young man to what he calls one of the deepest teams he has ever coached.
How Marshall ultimately fits into the ASU squad remains to be seen, but it certainly adds an exciting wrinkle to an already exciting team. Sun Devil fans will get their first glimpse of Marshall on Oct. 11 in the annual Maroon and Gold scrimmage.
