Rider’s motivated Marshall won’t be overlooked in senior season
LAWRENCEVILLE >> Near the end of a 5-on-5 live period of practice in which Rider was going full speed with a 15-second shot clock, Tyere Marshall dropped to a knee and started tying his shoe.
Even in the best shape of his life, the 6-foot-9, 240-pound center has a few tricks up his sleeve to buy himself a quick rest.
“That’s the old man trick right there,” Marshall said with a wry smile.
After all, he is a wily veteran now that he’s in his senior season.
“We’ve been battling, everybody is battling from top to bottom,” Marshall said. “We’re competing each day to get everybody better.”
Marshall is coming off a junior campaign in which he averaged a career best 10.8 points and 6.6 rebounds, but the team underachieved after it was selected as the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference’s unanimous preseason favorite.
Marshall, like many of his teammates, has stressed a renewed focus and commitment.
“We know we didn’t do what we were supposed to do last year,” he said. “This year we’re locked in and we’re competing each and every day to get each other ready for the season.”
Marshall, a product of Martin Luther King in the Philadelphia Public League, wanted to expand his game ahead of his final season in Lawrenceville. That meant working on his right hand, facing up to the basket and being able to knock down shots on the perimeter.
“Make it difficult for teams to scout me,” Marshall said. “I don’t want to be just banging all the time. Facing up to see how the defense is guarding us and I can get somebody else an open shot.”
Eighth-year coach Kevin Baggett compared him to former 1,000-point scorer Daniel Stewart, who went from playing exclusively on the low block to being able to operate on the perimeter. While Marshall isn’t the explosive athlete Stewart was, he’s getting more comfortable stepping away from the basket.
“I think he’s finally arrived,” Baggett said. “He started to dabble in it last year, but I think he struggled a little bit out of the West Virginia game, so we went back to where he’s comfortable, but the work that he put in this summer you see paying off. I want him to be able to do those things playing not he perimeter and not just be a back to the basket post guy.”
Marshall, a 49.4% career shooter in that comfort zone, understands that doesn’t mean he all of a sudden has the green light to launch 3-pointers. He’s only attempted two in his entire career, but a willingness to take and make open shots benefits everyone.
“If I can expand my range, that will force the big to come out,” Marshall said. “That will open up driving lanes for the guard, so it will help the team and not just me.”
He’s also striving for consistency. Rider still plays insideout and Marshall’s bread will always be buttered in the post where he’s a handful for anyone on his best days. To be option No. 1, however, he has to be on the floor.
“I can’t have 16 and then go have six,” he said. “I got to be able to do what I can do on a consistent basis. Foul trouble early in the game and stuff like that … it’s having a better focus going into the game and knowing that I have to be on the floor and making smart decisions.”
Baggett sensed a motivated Marshall early in summer workouts.
“He hasn’t yet been acknowledged or looked at as far as an all-conference player,” Baggett said. “There are a lot of things that are driving him, but this is it for him. Having a really good year will determine where he goes to play professionally and what opportunities he has.” That all-league snub hurt. “I feel like I’ve been overlooked a lot,” Marshall said. “I just want to prove that I’m here. Not only that I’m here, but we’re here.”