Shayok’s just mad about March
Ottawa hoops star plays key role on No. 5 Virginia squad at NCAA tourney
TIM BAINES
March Madness? For Marial Shayok, what was once a dream is very real.
When Shayok was seven years old, he started playing basketball, sometimes in Ottawa’s playgrounds, sometimes at the YMCA.
Basketball kind of ran in the family. Sisters Akuluel, Lau and Yar (University of Detroit-Mercy and France) and brother Shayok (University of Missouri-Kansas City) played, too. Their father Makur played college basketball years ago, then got paid to play overseas.
Now Shayok, the youngest, is set to play in March Madness, the wildly popular NCAA men’s basketball tournament that tips off Thursday. Shayok’s Virginia Cavaliers open against the UNC Wilmington Seahawks at 12:40 p.m. in Orlando. The matchup is a clash in styles. While high-flying UNCW is 10th in the country in offence, Virginia (312th in offence) leads in defence.
“Being in this the past two years, this being my third time, I’m more comfortable going in, I’m not as nervous as I was as a freshman,” said the 21-year-old Shayok, a guard. “I’m blessed to be here, to get to experience March Madness. I watched it on TV like a lot of people do. I’m still excited, for sure.”
As for Thursday’s matchup, Shayok said: “They seem like a really fast team that can score a lot of points. We just have to stick to what we know, play defence as best as we can. We’re a very deep team. All year we’ve had so many different rotations, so many different players stepping up. We just have to stay together, play together and be ready to step up. Defence is our identity, we just have to keep that going.”
As a sixth man who effectively comes off the bench, Shayok has averaged 8.6 points per game this season. His aggressive style and defence will be keys if Virginia is going to have success.
“You have to be confident in this tournament or you’ll be a step in behind,” he said. “You have to believe in yourselves, believe you can compete with anybody. Take it a game at a time and see how it works out.”
For Shayok and his teammates, they know all too well about the Cinderella stories that March Madness brings. That means there’s no time to take the foot off the gas pedal.
“You can’t really think ahead ... of the next team you’re playing,” said Shayok. “If you start looking too far ahead, if you’re not focused on who you’re playing, you’ll get beat.”
As a kid who grew up in awe of NBA stars like Kobe Bryant and Vince Carter, Shayok feels blessed to have got the opportunity to play college basketball south of the border. After fine-tuning his talent at Hawthorne Public School, then on the playgrounds in the Walkley-Russell Road area, he starred at St. Patrick High School before heading to the U.S. to attend New Jersey’s Blair Academy.
“I’ve put in a lot of work since I
was a kid living in Ottawa,” said Shayok. “For me, it became a purpose to get here to the States and play in March Madness. It really was a dream come true.”
Home for two days in December before heading back south on Christmas Day, Shayok is excited to have his family in Orlando to see him play.
“They helped me get to where I am today,” he said. “It’s great to
have them here to support me.”
Shayok has become what so many younger Ottawa kids want to become. He’s the model of what can happen with hard work and perseverance.
“Marial is the bar,” longtime St. Patrick coach Matt Koeslag told Postmedia’s Don Brennan a year ago. “To see someone from the local neighbourhood who went to our school, who’s been up through our program, achieve those things definitely opens their eyes as to the realistic possibilities that are out there for them if they make the commitment. He comes back in the spring each year and works out in the gym with us, so they get to see first-hand the kind of effort and the kind of work ethic it takes to realize what he’s done.”