The NCAA College Basketball Season has commenced and Marshall LLC would like to take the time to recognize some of the schools that we keep on our watch list. Those schools are Rutgers University, Marshall University, University of Tennessee, Providence College, University of North Carolina – Charlotte, Florida State, and Ohio University.
Marshall LLC stays in touch with our recruits by visiting their school to watch their games. In addition, when the recruits are available, we will train them at their schools and evaluate where they are with their performance and skill sets. Doing this helps us to determine who may be ready to go into the 2013 NBA Draft. Although the NBA Draft is over 200 days away, preparation is the key for a successful recruit to pass the test and crossover to becoming a professional athlete.
Godspeed and good luck to our recruits for a successful season.
From the time we are little stars are a part of our lives. The early days in school where we are trying to obtain gold and silver stars to show we accomplished something to be proud of. Skipping a few years as we age and learn to believe that wishing on the stars in the sky in the hopes of making our dreams come true. Even as an adult we gaze upon the stars that walk amongst us like Actors, Political Figures, Sports figures and even the lesser known ones like Doctors and Nurses, Teachers and Firefighters. We all shoot to be amongst the stars, to achieve the goals we set ahead of us. Andrew Bynum and MarShon Brooks are no different. Both men are making moves to show how brightly their stars can shine.
MarShon Brooks was chosen to participate in the NBA’s Rising Stars Challenge featuring rookies and second-year NBA players taking place as part of the NBA All-Star Weekend on February 24th.  Brooks is averaging 14.8 points a game placing him second among rookies.
Andrew Bynum, for his part, is going to be the going to his first All-Star game. It was a goal he set for himself six years ago, but with perseverance, practice and drive he managed to get himself to the place he wanted to be.
Two young men both setting an example to future players and dreamers that placing high goals on yourself is something to be done. Don’t listen to those who say you can’t. Don’t let others talk you out of dreaming big. Dream big, the bigger the better and never give up.  We could not be prouder of the goals they are striving for and the achievements they are making.
God Speed to those who show us we should dream and God Speed to the dreamers!
by K. Kozla
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As December quickly approaches with the holidays in tow is that a miracle I see? Well, maybe not a miracle, but we could be getting a gift as the NBA and Players Association might be reaching an agreement and giving us a basketball season! Now it would be shorter than normal, but some basketball is always better than no basketball so we all keep our fingers crossed that the people involved can come to an agreement. That would be the best present for all of the fans and the workers waiting to go back to work.
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Godspeed to those involved with the discussions; Godspeed to a 2011-2012 NBA Season.
On a rainy Tuesday night in New Jersey, Scotty Hopson honored me with a phone interview. I call it an honor because he took time to call me even though he is racing against a countdown clock.  This one, however, is not to make the winning shot, but instead is to get all the loose ends tied up before he boards a plane on the way to Greece to play basketball for Kolossos Rhodes. Racing to make sure the T’s were crossed and the I’s were dotted he, along with Larry Marshall, were moving to ensure that every last potential issue was being preemptively dealt with.  However, I felt that he would be able to handle a variety of situations being thrown at him after I spoke with him.
As Scotty was growing up basketball was a part of his life. He told me that, “from the day I picked up the ball I had dreams of being big (in the sport).” I asked him when he started to play in an organized team and if he had players that he looked up to and he told me that he, “started playing organized basketball (when he was) around 8 years old” and continued to expand talking about how he “idolized guys like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, both who played (his) position, though Kobe was definitely more from his generation and thus more influential on him.
While he had dreams of going big and wanting to play for the NBA he did not realize just how possible that earlier dream of becoming a star was until he reached high school.  It was then that he, “started to receive college recruitment letters in (his) freshman year” and he, “realized that (colleges) were interested him,” even at such an early point in high school, “and (he) could turn (his) dreams into reality. So (he) worked on being the best player (he) could be. (He) still does”.
Photograph by Rodney Laing
It was then that I started to bring up the man who set up this interview for me, Larry Marshall. I was interested in when he met him, how that all came to be. Scotty told me that it was during a High School game in the middle of the season that he first met Larry. Scotty was a Junior at the time and Larry had been traveling and visiting family. One of Larry’s nephews were playing in the game that Scotty was. Scotty explained that, “during the game (Larry) took notice of me… and after the game he spoke to (Scotty), got information about (Scotty) and talked to (his) mother and family.”  That was where the relationship started and Scotty came to New Jersey to train with Larry here.
Scotty and Larry’s relationship has been growing over the last five plus years. When I asked Scotty what kind of effect Larry had on his life I could hear the smile on his face. He enthusiastically responded, “A great deal, not only on my training, but life skills. He mentors me on life and family on and off the court. He has always been there for me for anything, ANYTHING, that I need and has even been there for my mother and what she needs. I can always turn to him for advice. He’s like a father figure to me”
He brought up how life has not always been as smooth as he may have liked saying that being undrafted helped him mature as an individual and grow as a person, but when I asked him ultimately where he would like to be he said, “Well, I am where God wants me to be. A lot of times in life you may have things you do not want to go through, but you need to in order to be the best person you can be. I need to be right where I am.”
Humble and focused Scotty is getting ready for the next adventure in his life. With the drive and desire that he has I know that he will go far on and off of the court. He is an amazing example not only of good sportsmanship, but of being a good human being. I do not think that there is anything that Scotty couldn’t do if he put his mind to it.
Godspeed, Scotty, and safe travel overseas. I can only hope that Greece realizes the treasure they are getting.
The NFL Fall Season is getting ready to swing into full gear; the players have been practicing and the fans riling up. The grass is being trimmed, the yard lines laid down and if we listen hard enough we can almost hear the roar as the team charges from the locker room and is announced onto the field.Â
Anticipation is electric in the air… for some at least.
Another field of battle is eerily quiet, another set of locker rooms sit empty.  No one is preparing the court for titans to compete to cries of support that erupt from fans.  Parties have been unable to come together and the clock continues to count down to a year without the NBA.  Each tick passing without agreement is one towards an end game; one where the season might be canceled entirely.Â
A bad dream is turning into a harsh reality for far too many people. No jobs for concession workers, no jobs for ticket takers, no jobs for the people who tell you where to park or clean up after a team tastes sweet victory or the bitter defeat.  No jobs for the coaches, the players, the representatives and more. The draft picks who clawed their way up will not reach the big time yet. In a time when the economy needs every little bit it can get it appears the unemployment numbers will be going up. Will the players look to other countries to continue their love of the game or can some miracle still occur?
Me? Well, I’m not giving up hope yet. If the politicians in D.C. could push to the wire to make the jump shot to raise the debt ceiling.  Well, then maybe the Players’ Association and the Teams can find a way to make a play at the buzzer and come to an agreement too.Â
 Godspeed to those playing in the 2012 NFL Season and to the 2012 NBA year.
As the NBA lock out stands strong forcing players to scramble for new options there is light in the NFL world. Â It appears that the NFL lock out may be coming to an end and that is a not only good for the Players and the Teams, but it is good news for the fans and all of the people whose work and financial lives revolve around the people doing what they do best.
The end to the NFL lockout could not come soon enough, the players need to start their preseason preparations and then the games might be able to start on time for a full season. Â The fact that talks are working towards the right place gives hope for not only the NFL, but it brings hope to the NBA as well. Â It shows that people working together for a common good and a common interest can make changes and come to agreements that will benefit everyone.
That is the lesson that everyone could and should be taking from this. Â We do not need to destroy the other side, we need to find a way to come to an agreement that raises both sides up. Â That way everyone succeeds and brings a cohesiveness that had not been there before creating a path for the future.
Godspeed to all the people moving to find a solution to the problem.
Players, coaches and fans alike are staring at the clock and even though it is not a shot clock or a period timer this one might be the most important clock of them all: the count down clock that clicks closer and closer to the imminent threat of Lockout. The owners and players union met this afternoon, but no decision has been reached as of yet so all eyes are falling onto the Commissioner to see what he does when the clock strikes 12.
This is not something the players or the owners want. For the players they will not have pay checks coming in. They will not have their medical benefits. Training facilities will be closed. Owners won’t have their teams after one of the most watched seasons in the sport’s history. On top of it all it will bring all talks to a screeching halt.
This will hurt the players and their families and it will also hurt the coaches, but we have to remember the unspoken casualties that also will be affected. In this troubled economy there is a silent party that will have their hours cut, if not completely unemployed, if this is not fixed and fast: all of the people who work at the stadiums where the teams played. If the games are not going on and the buildings are not in use no one needs people to watch in the parking, or security in the games, no referees, no vendors, no ticket counters, no mascots, no cleaning crews, no cooks. They are the people who do thankless jobs to support their families from paycheck to paycheck while the stars perform for owners of teams and they too will be hurt if this is not fixed. Hopefully it will not come to that, but it seems unlikely that there will be any other out come.
I wish Godspeed to the ones in control, may they remember each and every person it touches.
To say that the NBA 2011 Draft was a night to end all nights is an understatement. Â We had two excellent players proudly representing us and while we realize the outcome for both of our gentlemen were not instant results we had hoped for we know that the seeds were planted for two amazing careers to come.
MarShon Brooks was the first round 25th pick selected by the Boston Celtics, but he never got a chance to get use to Beantown because before the night was out he had been traded off to the Garden State and their New Jersey Nets! Â The Nets are looking to reorganize their team for the 2012 season and picked up three out of the first round.
While Scotty Hopson was not selected right out of the gate we are confident that the Junior from University of Tennessee will be picked up as a free agent and be a valuable addition to whichever team is fortunate enough to choose the young man with an amazing athleticism.
Godspeed to all of the young men with their NBA dreams.
Here we are, the night before the NBA Draft which is taking place this Thursday, June 23rd,  at the Prudential Center located in Newark, NJ. The atmosphere, like the competition, is electric and we are diving in feet first to the draft pool. Currently  Marshall Sports LLC has two young men going into the draft and we are more than pleased with the efforts that they are putting out.
Alphabetically, we start with MarShon Brooks coming from Provident College. Standing at 6’5″ MarShon is the 2nd leading scorer in the NCAA playing on the Providence Friars. A senior with 4 years experience under his belt he is a force to reckoned with on and off the course. He came to Providence, Rhode Island from his home town of Stone Mountain, Georgia and he has been doing his home town proud.
Next we present to you Scotty Hopson a Junior out of University of Tennessee. Playing Guard on the Tennessee Volunteers he stands at 6’7″ and Scotty has been making his school quite proud on and off the bench.
At the NBA Draft Combine in May both players did extremely well. The Combine gives the teams a chance to look at the players to give them an opportunity to find the  best fit for their team who are dreaming of Championships to come.  Participation in the Draft Combine includes, but is not limited to, agility, sprints, vertical jumps and shooting drills, just to names a few. Based upon their performance, each player is invited individually to workout at the team’s facility.  This is where they are put in 3 on 3 drills and 5 on 5 drills to access their offense, defense, scoring, and athleticism.
Both MarShon and Scotty did extremely well at the team’s workout and tomorrow will provide us with the end results. Our guys are well prepared to be an important  part of any team. Draft night will be the beginning of the story, watch with us where they go.
