Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

UConn men going back to the future
By Chris Licata
The Daily Campus (U. Connecticut)
03/14/2006

(CSTV U-WIRE) STORRS, Conn. — It was a little over 10 years ago that Donny Marshall graced the hardwood of Gampel Pavilion for the UConn Huskies. The year was 1995 and along with future NBA all-star Ray Allen and numerous other Husky legends, Marshall led the Huskies to an impressive 28-5 record and No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

This weekend the Huskies will once again return to the NCAA Tournament as a high seed and, like 1995, Marshall is once again a big part.

"I am sort of a big brother," Marshall said. "I am not on the staff, I just work out and be a mentor for the guys because I've been there and done that."

Marshall certainly has been there. The former UConn great spent eight seasons in the NBA after leaving the Huskies and currently works as a play-by-play man for ESPN. Most recently Marshall called the 2006 America East Championship game that saw the UConn's first-round opponent Albany defeat Vermont for the titile.

Despite his experience in the NBA and national exposure as a college basketball analyst, Marshall still feels a strong allegiance to the Huskies.

"When I went here we never had a guy that did that for us," Marshall said. "When I got here we became very close-knit. I guarantee that if Kevin Ollie wasn't playing for the 76ers he'd be here right now."

In addition to working out with the team on a regular basis, Marshall has also taken it upon himself to help the team tool up for the NCAA Tournament.

"I have played in the NBA and had a big stake in a number of the banners you see here," Marshall said. "I can tell [the team] what it's like to win and what it's like to lose and go into the NCAA Tournament, I've been there and done that."

One Husky that has been crucial to UConn's success this season has been freshman forward Jeff Adrien. Admired by many for his scrappy and hard-nosed play, Adrien has given the Huskies a spark off the bench on numerous occasions this season. In the days before his first ever NCAA Tournament Marshall expressed his confidence in the 20-year-old from Brookline, Mass.

"Jeff Adrien was ready from day one," Marshall said. "Jeff is like a veteran, you forget when you watch him play that he's a freshman."

"I am really excited to do it [the NCAA Tournament]," Adrien said. "Every game I play is going to be full of energy and I am going to play very hard."

As Adrien and the team prepare for Albany, Marshall's presence and advice are visible as a calming factor. While talking to the media Sunday evening, Adrien sat calmly in the bleachers of Gampel and reiterated Marshall's advice.

"Our mind-set should be, like Donny [Marshall] told me, should be to come out and pound these guys by 30 so we can make a statement for the next team."

An increase in physical play should be the key for the Huskies, who have a clear size advantage over the Great Danes, and Adrien should be a big part of that game play. On the season Adrien averaged 6.5 points and 5.3 rebounds in only 16.5 minutes of play a game. However, it is the intangibles — the parts of the game that don't show up on the stat sheet — that make Adrien so valuable. Contesting every loose ball, battling for every rebound and playing with raw emotion has made Adrien the unsung hero of this year's UConn squad.

[ Back to Student Voices ]