UNC Basketball: Doomsday Scenario, We’ve Seen The Last Of Marshall In A Carolina Uniform
By Matt Hamm
Alright I have to admit a couple things here. One I am scared just as much as you are of that awful title I stuck on this column. Two, I don’t think this will happen. And three, my mind is jumbled up right now about this Kendall Marshall injury. At times with sports, I get a big obsessed with something that is either exciting me or worrying me. File this in the all time panic slot right. But it is my job to try and put all the possible scenario’s in front of you at a time like this. And when running through them in my head the worst case presented itself. Imagine if Marshall can’t play or he plays a little bit and re-injures himself or just flat out sucks with the injury and sits. That’s worst case for both Marshall and North Carolina not to mention the NCAA Tournament. But what happens after the season? What if Marshall watches Tyler Zeller graduate, Harrison Barnes and John Henson declare for the draft and he decides to put his name in the NBA Draft hat. With the way he’s been playing lately, he’s proven he can score and actually has a jump shot. He hasn’t proven that much defensively though I will recognize some improvement.
Make no mistake, Kendall Marshall’s name would be called in the first round if he were to declare. Scouts don’t care that he “suffered” an injury like a fractured wrist when they are evaluating NBA Draft prospects. I often said this year that Kendall Marshall would be back for his junior year. The main reason I gave were his lack of scoring and one on one defense. Well, cross one of those off the list. Marshall has been on fire ever since lighting up NC State. In March, Marshall is absolutely lighting it up in the scoring column. Maybe even more amazing is the fact that he hasn’t lost a beat in terms of his assists. He went from scoring just over seven points per game and averaging just a shade under ten assists per game. And then it began to rain Marshall.
Look at his numbers in the month of March: 14.8 ppg, 10.3 apg, FG: 58%, 3P: 50%, A/TO: 2.72 You read that correctly, since he doubled his scoring average, he also improved his numbers by about 0.5 assists per as well. Sure he’s not the fastest and no he hasn’t shown that he can consistently be a scoring threat for an entire season. And he’s far from showing he can handle NBA PGs defensively. But what did Ricky Rubio prove? Pro sports drafts are as much about potential as they are anything else. And right now, I’m confident in saying Marshall is pretty high on NBA Draft boards at the PG position as it stands today.
Like I said above, I believe Marshall will return for his junior season. If only because he doesn’t want to go out like the way this scenario hypothetically ends his college career. He’s certainty got a lot of motivation already after his first team All-ACC snub and being left off everybody’s All-American teams (all three at that!). In most Tar Heel circles when talk of the future comes up the immediate worry is Barnes and Henson. I agree they are the most likely to walk before their eligibility is up. I just hope Marshall doesn’t walk out the door with them.
Fortunately, even if this did happen, as bad as it would sting. Roy Williams has already collected two more left handed point guards in the 2012 and 2013 recruiting classes. Marcus Paige and Nate Britt look like they could pick up and play Marshall’s role today, especially Paige. We very well may have replacements already lined up, the lesson this year has taught me is, I’m rooting for Roy to bring in 2-3 every year from here on out.
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