The Marshal Comes to Town...
The next year, we returned a good group, and it seemed like the things that split the last team up were not going to happen this time. We had been doing team retreats every Fall up in Flagstaff; having leadership sessions and practicing at Northern Arizona University.
Speaking of NAU, during our time at MCC, we helped 34 young men get NCAA Division 1 scholarships. On no occasion, did NAU ever actively recruit a single one of those guys. Some people would comment that our retreats up there should not be allowed, as it gave NAU an unfair recruiting advantage. It didn’t, because they never recruited any of our guys. A couple of times an assistant coach would call and ask if he could come watch practice, which was normal protocol for coaches, then not show up. NAU was the only school who ever did that. Another time, a coach showed up, then simply walked out during the practice. Other coaches would always pull one of our assistants aside and say thanks for letting them come watch, and they had to go. Common courtesy. The NAU guy just walked out and we never heard from them again that year. I am relating this to you, so that it is understood how recruiting should go. I would bet that Shane Burcar, being an ex-high school coach, has solved that. ASU never showed interest in any of our players, and the only ASU coach who ever came to the gym, which was about three miles from ASU, was Herb Sendek coming to a Fiesta Bowl game to recruit Jerry Blakes, a guard from San Bernadino Valley College. We were playing them in the first round of the tournament. He left before the game was over, about the time it became apparent that we were going to win. And UofA really doesn’t go the juco route, so we never had any contact with them. We know what route they went, as evidenced by an FBI investigation.
Anyway, the 2012-13 team seemed to really get straight the things that hurt the last group and were determined to not let that happen again. The team was particularly strong up front, and we returned our point guard from the previous year. Our non-conference schedule was great, with a tip-off tournament in Salt Lake, a strong Fiesta Bowl tournament, and a home game against the number one team in the nation, South Plains, Texas. We went 24-7, and 19-3 in the ACCAC.
One of the most memorable moments my time in Mesa came when we played South Plains in our gym in December. We had just come off of a third place finish in a very loaded Fiesta Bowl tournament, beating East Mississippi in the final game. They had the nation’s leading scorer and there was a brawl during the game that happened right in front of the East Mississippi bench. One of their players took exception to something one of our players did. Tre Ogles, who was a real mixer, got it going and when they started to push and shove, virtually the entire East Mississippi team came on to the floor. Of course, they were all immediately ejected and suspended for their next game, which happened to be a league game. To say the coaches were unhappy is an understatement. Lesson- don’t fight in front of your own bench. Anyway, back to the South Plains game. They were a brilliant team that would end up going 36-0. Every position was legitimately two deep- and they had a guy named Marshal Henderson.
We had heard about Marshal from a friend of Coach Grothaus, who was an assistant at the University of Utah. Marshal had gone there as a freshman, and subsequently been suspended for a variety of reasons, including slapping a BYU player. His exploits in Salt Lake City are still legendary, and he was only there one year. He then went to South Plains and ended up in the MCC gym that December. What we knew was that he was an extremely skilled player, could shoot the lights out, and would talk a lot of noise. And we were right. To say he was eccentric, is an understatement. When he and his team walked into the gym, most of the players had earphones and were obviously listening to music. Marshal had no head set, but he was literally dancing- clearly to some music in his head. He was a very friendly young guy and was the only South Plains player to walk (dance) over and shake our hands. His dad was a coach, so he evidently had some deep seeded respect for coaches. He said “hey, I’m Marshal”. OK. When they came out for warmups, he was standing near center court and became fascinated with our defensive footwork drill and started to do it on his own. At one point, he was shooting near our bench and he turned to me and Mike Grothaus and said “I feel it tonight- you better guard me”. We said we would do our best. Right after the game started, he dribbled almost to the exact spot where he talked to us and pulled up for a three. He was so far out there, that our defender hadn’t even started to guard him yet. As it swished through the net, he turned to us and said “I told you- I’m hot”. Classic. We gave them a great game and were only down four with about two minutes left. Marshal then hit two unbelievably long three’s and that was that. He would go on to play at the University of Mississippi, and become even more legendary there. His junior year, they won the SEC tournament championship by beating Kentucky- you can only imagine what that meant down there. Unforgettable kid.
Our reward for a 19-3 league record and a number 2 seed in the playoffs was an opening round game at home against Arizona Western. Playing them was always tough, close, and decided by one or two key things in the end. It never really mattered where the game was either. They played exceptionally well, and that night’s determining factor was their ability to overcome our strength, which was field goal defense- for which we had been ranked number one in the conference all year. Western came in and shot almost 60% from the field and won by seven. If this was the NCAA, we would have probably gone on to the nationals with an at-large bid, but this was juco- you lose and you’re done. So, that was the way it ended.
Next time: Another championship...
The next year, we returned a good group, and it seemed like the things that split the last team up were not going to happen this time. We had been doing team retreats every Fall up in Flagstaff; having leadership sessions and practicing at Northern Arizona University.
Speaking of NAU, during our time at MCC, we helped 34 young men get NCAA Division 1 scholarships. On no occasion, did NAU ever actively recruit a single one of those guys. Some people would comment that our retreats up there should not be allowed, as it gave NAU an unfair recruiting advantage. It didn’t, because they never recruited any of our guys. A couple of times an assistant coach would call and ask if he could come watch practice, which was normal protocol for coaches, then not show up. NAU was the only school who ever did that. Another time, a coach showed up, then simply walked out during the practice. Other coaches would always pull one of our assistants aside and say thanks for letting them come watch, and they had to go. Common courtesy. The NAU guy just walked out and we never heard from them again that year. I am relating this to you, so that it is understood how recruiting should go. I would bet that Shane Burcar, being an ex-high school coach, has solved that. ASU never showed interest in any of our players, and the only ASU coach who ever came to the gym, which was about three miles from ASU, was Herb Sendek coming to a Fiesta Bowl game to recruit Jerry Blakes, a guard from San Bernadino Valley College. We were playing them in the first round of the tournament. He left before the game was over, about the time it became apparent that we were going to win. And UofA really doesn’t go the juco route, so we never had any contact with them. We know what route they went, as evidenced by an FBI investigation.
Anyway, the 2012-13 team seemed to really get straight the things that hurt the last group and were determined to not let that happen again. The team was particularly strong up front, and we returned our point guard from the previous year. Our non-conference schedule was great, with a tip-off tournament in Salt Lake, a strong Fiesta Bowl tournament, and a home game against the number one team in the nation, South Plains, Texas. We went 24-7, and 19-3 in the ACCAC.
One of the most memorable moments my time in Mesa came when we played South Plains in our gym in December. We had just come off of a third place finish in a very loaded Fiesta Bowl tournament, beating East Mississippi in the final game. They had the nation’s leading scorer and there was a brawl during the game that happened right in front of the East Mississippi bench. One of their players took exception to something one of our players did. Tre Ogles, who was a real mixer, got it going and when they started to push and shove, virtually the entire East Mississippi team came on to the floor. Of course, they were all immediately ejected and suspended for their next game, which happened to be a league game. To say the coaches were unhappy is an understatement. Lesson- don’t fight in front of your own bench. Anyway, back to the South Plains game. They were a brilliant team that would end up going 36-0. Every position was legitimately two deep- and they had a guy named Marshal Henderson.
We had heard about Marshal from a friend of Coach Grothaus, who was an assistant at the University of Utah. Marshal had gone there as a freshman, and subsequently been suspended for a variety of reasons, including slapping a BYU player. His exploits in Salt Lake City are still legendary, and he was only there one year. He then went to South Plains and ended up in the MCC gym that December. What we knew was that he was an extremely skilled player, could shoot the lights out, and would talk a lot of noise. And we were right. To say he was eccentric, is an understatement. When he and his team walked into the gym, most of the players had earphones and were obviously listening to music. Marshal had no head set, but he was literally dancing- clearly to some music in his head. He was a very friendly young guy and was the only South Plains player to walk (dance) over and shake our hands. His dad was a coach, so he evidently had some deep seeded respect for coaches. He said “hey, I’m Marshal”. OK. When they came out for warmups, he was standing near center court and became fascinated with our defensive footwork drill and started to do it on his own. At one point, he was shooting near our bench and he turned to me and Mike Grothaus and said “I feel it tonight- you better guard me”. We said we would do our best. Right after the game started, he dribbled almost to the exact spot where he talked to us and pulled up for a three. He was so far out there, that our defender hadn’t even started to guard him yet. As it swished through the net, he turned to us and said “I told you- I’m hot”. Classic. We gave them a great game and were only down four with about two minutes left. Marshal then hit two unbelievably long three’s and that was that. He would go on to play at the University of Mississippi, and become even more legendary there. His junior year, they won the SEC tournament championship by beating Kentucky- you can only imagine what that meant down there. Unforgettable kid.
Our reward for a 19-3 league record and a number 2 seed in the playoffs was an opening round game at home against Arizona Western. Playing them was always tough, close, and decided by one or two key things in the end. It never really mattered where the game was either. They played exceptionally well, and that night’s determining factor was their ability to overcome our strength, which was field goal defense- for which we had been ranked number one in the conference all year. Western came in and shot almost 60% from the field and won by seven. If this was the NCAA, we would have probably gone on to the nationals with an at-large bid, but this was juco- you lose and you’re done. So, that was the way it ended.
Next time: Another championship...
