BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Samford Athletics is continuing the Student-Athlete Spotlight series, presented by Coca-Cola, which, this week, will highlight Jermaine Marshall, a sophomore forward on the men's basketball team.
 
Marshall grew up locally, going to Hueytown High School. He spent a season at Florida Southwestern Junior College, and then played the 2020-21 season at Akron before transferring to Samford. He said he has enjoyed being closer to home and playing for head coach Bucky McMillan.
 
"It definitely means a lot, coming back home, playing in front of my family and friends, just looking up and seeing my mom and seeing my friends in the stands cheering for me," Marshall said. "Me and Coach Buck, we had a strong, close relationship, it definitely was a factor. Everything when he was recruiting me, I knew he was telling me the truth because I knew him other than just basketball at like the coaching and recruiting level, so I trusted him. And everything so far has been good."
 
When Marshall was looking to leave Akron, he said he looked at some different schools, but Samford was always where he wanted to end up.
 
"There were a few other schools, like Fresno State, but in the back of my head I knew I was coming back home to play for Samford," Marshall said.
 
During his season at Florida Southwestern, Marshall played with current Samford teammate Jaden Campbell. He talked a little about their relationship.
 
"We had a good relationship with the whole team, especially with Jaden," Marshall said. "We would normally do freshmen versus sophomores scrimmages in practice at FSW and we were both freshmen at the time when we played with each other. So, we would always make each other better at practice, so we were always close, we would go hang out and do all types of things together."
 
The Bulldogs are off to a 6-2 start, including an impressive win at the Pac 12's Oregon State. Marshall talked about what he has seen from the team so far this season.
 
"We've had a lot of mistakes, but when you think about it, we can definitely go a fix those," Marshall said. "I just feel like we've got to be like, we're locked in, and we just can't start a game off a little slow, but we are headed in the right direction."
 
Marshall had a career-high 22 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the team in its most recent game against an always tough Belmont team. Samford trailed by 21 points and halftime but fought back to fall by just 12 points. Marshall talked about the confidence the team gained from the second-half performance.
 
"We definitely started out slow, and Coach came in and got on us and we responded in a positive way that second half," Marshall said. "We're just going to keep getting better and learning from it."
 
Marshall also talked about how the non-conference schedule will help as the team prepares for the upcoming Southern Conference schedule.
 
"All these games help us get better," Marshall said. "We just started playing with each other. So, Ques, he's doing phenomenal, but we just started playing with each other this summer, so we've just got to get our chemistry up and continue growing, continue getting better every day at practice."
 
Marshall is known as one of the hardest working players on the team. He said he feels that his energy rubs off on the rest of the team.
 
"I feel like I challenge everybody at practice," Marshall said. "Especially I challenge you if you're guarding me or you're on the other team. I definitely feel like they're going to keep getting tired of hearing my mouth, because I do like to talk trash. You'll get tired of hearing me so you want to elevate your game and try to match my energy."
 
Marshall and the Bulldogs will play at Alabama State tonight at 6 p.m. in Montgomery. The game can be seen live on YouTube and the following link: WATCH LIVE. Live stats are also available by clicking here: LIVE STATS.


 
FOLLOW THE BULLDOGS:
For the latest news and information on Samford Men's Basketball, visit the official website for Samford Athletics at SamfordSports.com. Fans can also follow the Bulldogs on social media at /SamfordSports (Facebook), @SamfordMBB (Twitter), and @SamfordMBB (Instagram).