NW Democrat-Gazette

Leader of the pack

Chickasaws center made impact on and off the floor

ERICK TAYLOR

If Blytheville Coach McKenzie Pierce was a betting man, he’d have no problem pushing all of his chips to middle of the table and wagering on the state’s preeminent big man whenever his Chickasaws needed a play to be made.

That’s how much belief he had in Rashaud Marshall.

“Anytime the ball hits his hands, you feel really good about whatever will happen next,” Pierce said. “He is a physical specimen. The combination of his size, athleticism and skill make him special.”

Special summed up Marshall to a tee this past season for Blytheville.

The 6-9 senior averaged almost 22 points, 11 rebounds and 2.5 blocks and 2 steals for a Chickasaw team that came one victory away from capturing its first state championship in 17 years. His dominant play was a huge reason for Blytheville’s run, and it’s also why he’s the Arkansas Democrat- Gazette All-Arkansas Preps Boys Player of the Year.

“It was a tough season, but it’s one that we embraced,” said Marshall, a Mississippi commitment. “We had a tough offseason, too, because we knew what the goals were. We came up short last year when we got to the title game, and we wanted to get back to the finals this year and give ourselves another chance.”

With Marshall in the middle, the Chickasaws’ odds of winning where high every time they stepped onto the floor.

The 34 victories Blytheville claimed was its most ever in a single season. The Chickasaws also won a pair of prestigious nonconference tournaments in Missouri and Illinois before capturing a fifth consecutive conference title. They went on to advance to the Class 4A title game for the second straight year but ran into a buzzsaw in Little Rock Christian that ended their championship quest.

But that last game didn’t do anything to diminish or downplay what Marshall did throughout the year. He was routinely double and sometimes triple-teamed on a regular, yet managed to impact outcomes more times than not.

“It’s happened to me all my life,” he explained about the extra attention he received. “It was like that when I was in Jonesboro, too, so I got used to it. My pops would always tell me to just play out of it, and that’s pretty much what I did.”

Marshall, who played the final three weeks of the season with a wrist injury, owns a skillset that mirrors that of a prototypical center, particularly because of his power and footwork around the basket. But for Pierce, there’s much more to his game than just his overpowering activity in the paint.

“Rashaud does so many things well,” he said. “We’re talking about a guy who’s shot 72% from the field for over two years. But two specific skills that stand out to me is one, his jumping, and two, his passing. For his size, he is a high jumper that can get from point A to B quicker than most his size.

“And he has great vision and passing ability from the post and on outlet passing. … he makes everyone around him better.”

His propensity to elevate his teammates’ level of play only added to what the Chickasaws already had, which was several returning pieces from last season’s runner-up campaign. They also got a top transfer in KeSean Washington, who immediately made a difference.

“That’s when I knew we had a chance to do something big,” Marshall said in reference to Washington joining the team. “We got our shooting up to speed, had myself and T.J. [Jackson] inside. We knew we had the talent, had potential, but sometimes, things don’t always go the way you plan.”

There was a lot that didn’t go Blytheville’s way in the final against Little Rock Christian. The Warriors thoroughly controlled things from the outset, and despite Marshall scoring 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting and grabbing 14 rebounds, the Chickasaws didn’t have enough to keep up.

But for the all-state standout, he has no regrets.

“We did what we could,” he said. “[Little Rock Christian] came out strong, they came out tough and hit us from the jump. But we gave it our all. And for me going forward, I’m going to continue to give it my all.

“I’m gonna get in the weight room, tune up my skills and go to work. I’ve got a lot of basketball ahead of me, and I’m ready to face this next challenge.”

All-Arkansas Preps Basketball

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2023-03-26T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-03-26T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://edition.nwaonline.com/article/282668986608019

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