#1 Ranked PG ...

[s0lefunk]

Crazy..

I think I recognize #3 in the burgundy. He played my nephew's team last year. He was crazy nice too. Handles and a decent shot. It amazes me how talented some of these kids are.

 

[got shoes]

Upside is going to be great

 

[got shoes]

Upside is going to be great

 

[vietstar]

Ehh, he's got a little bit too much "And-1 basketball" in him.

Coaches won't like it at the High School/College level.

 

[vietstar]

Ehh, he's got a little bit too much "And-1 basketball" in him.

Coaches won't like it at the High School/College level.

 

[roc4life24]

Originally Posted by s0leFUNK

Crazy..

I think I recognize #3 in the burgundy. He played my nephew's team last year. He was crazy nice too. Handles and a decent shot. It amazes me how talented some of these kids are.

i was thinking that besides dude that the other kids had some nice jumpers. they seemed to seemed to be running real offenses, makes dude highlights that much better

if he can get to 6'2 at least

 

[roc4life24]

Originally Posted by s0leFUNK

Crazy..

I think I recognize #3 in the burgundy. He played my nephew's team last year. He was crazy nice too. Handles and a decent shot. It amazes me how talented some of these kids are.

i was thinking that besides dude that the other kids had some nice jumpers. they seemed to seemed to be running real offenses, makes dude highlights that much better

if he can get to 6'2 at least

 

[crumbs]

kid is nice.

 

[crumbs]

kid is nice.

 

[crumbs]

kid is nice.

 

[crumbs]

kid is nice.

 

[shoegallery]

seriously , take that +@*% to the pros . crossover is ill matic .

 

[shoegallery]

seriously , take that +@*% to the pros . crossover is ill matic .

 

[shoegallery]

seriously , take that !#*+ to the pros . crossover is ill matic .

 

[shoegallery]

seriously , take that !#*+ to the pros . crossover is ill matic .

 

[im not you]

Originally Posted by roc4life24

Originally Posted by s0leFUNK

Crazy..

I think I recognize #3 in the burgundy. He played my nephew's team last year. He was crazy nice too. Handles and a decent shot. It amazes me how talented some of these kids are.

i was thinking that besides dude that the other kids had some nice jumpers. they seemed to seemed to be running real offenses, makes dude highlights that much better

if he can get to 6'2 at least

You have to be 6'2 to be good?

 

[im not you]

Originally Posted by roc4life24

Originally Posted by s0leFUNK

Crazy..

I think I recognize #3 in the burgundy. He played my nephew's team last year. He was crazy nice too. Handles and a decent shot. It amazes me how talented some of these kids are.

i was thinking that besides dude that the other kids had some nice jumpers. they seemed to seemed to be running real offenses, makes dude highlights that much better

if he can get to 6'2 at least

You have to be 6'2 to be good?

 

[ThaxbyChamblis]

Originally Posted by VietStar

Ehh, he's got a little bit too much "And-1 basketball" in him.

Coaches won't like it at the High School/College level.

What? Where did you see "And-1" stuff? Only thing I saw was when he did the Shamm, and he only did that once.

He wasn't ever really dribbling just to dribble. He dribbled to get his shot off or to get to the cup

 

[ThaxbyChamblis]

Originally Posted by VietStar

Ehh, he's got a little bit too much "And-1 basketball" in him.

Coaches won't like it at the High School/College level.

What? Where did you see "And-1" stuff? Only thing I saw was when he did the Shamm, and he only did that once.

He wasn't ever really dribbling just to dribble. He dribbled to get his shot off or to get to the cup

 

[DCAllAfrican]

Originally Posted by Im Not You

I don't buy the whole "parents are ruining him" idea. It's up to the kid at the end of the day.

Kendall Marshall and Markel Starks are examples of two players that were highly touted at a very young age and they maintained it up to high D1 caliber players.

This kid is a rare talent. It doesn't matter if he doesn't see an inch past 5'10...if he continues to get better...he's going to be special period.

Kendall Marshall was another one? Hmmm, where did he play at when he was younger?

 

[DCAllAfrican]

Originally Posted by Im Not You

I don't buy the whole "parents are ruining him" idea. It's up to the kid at the end of the day.

Kendall Marshall and Markel Starks are examples of two players that were highly touted at a very young age and they maintained it up to high D1 caliber players.

This kid is a rare talent. It doesn't matter if he doesn't see an inch past 5'10...if he continues to get better...he's going to be special period.

Kendall Marshall was another one? Hmmm, where did he play at when he was younger?

 

[im not you]

You really don't remember Kendall?
Dude was playing on his school (before he went to O'Connell) HS Varsity squad when he was like 11.

He from VA. Dumfries to be exact.

[h1][h1]A New Meaning for Playground Basketball[/h1][h2]Ranking Systems Put Spotlighton Youngsters[/h2][/h1]
By Preston Williams

Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, February 24, 2003; Page A01

The sweet-shooting southpawin the NBA headband boasts an eye-popping résumé -- national titles, all-stargame appearances, prestigious camp invitations and hobnobbing opportunitieswith Shaquille O'Neal, Yao Ming and even Adam Sandler. He's the No. 1basketball player his age in the United States.

Who knew sixth grade couldbe so rewarding?
[table][tr][td] [table][tr][td]



Dale City's Kendall Marshall is rated the top 11-year-old U.S. basketball player by recruiting service HoopScoop. Ranking children is seen by some adults as necessary, cruel by others.(Kevin Clark -- The Washington Post)
[/td] [/tr][/table]


[table][tr][td]
 
[/td] [/tr][/table]
 

 
[table][tr][td]
 
[/td] [/tr][/table][h2]
[/h2][/td] [/tr][/table]
Online recruitingpublication HoopScoop last summer trumpeted Prince William County residentKendall Marshall, a 5-foot-2, 95-pound point guard on the Evangel Christianhigh school varsity team, as the nation's best player in the high school classof 2009. It was the kind of news that could keep a kid's milk mustache upturnedfor days.

"Is Kendall Marshallthe best sixth-grader in the country? He might be," said recruitinganalyst Clark Francis, editor and publisher of Louisville-based HoopScoop."I've had too many people who have seen him play tell me he's totallyridiculous in terms of his age group."

But not everyone has thereaction Marshallhad -- he called it "cool" -- about hanging national ratings onplayers as young as 10 years old. Some psychologists, coaches and recruitinganalysts say tagging a player at such a tender stage is harmful, no matter howspectacular he might be as a pre-teen. Marshall,now 11, was in fifth grade when he came to Francis's attention.

But with "playingup" an age group becoming a growing trend in amateur basketball -- whetherit's a high schooler or college underclassman jumping to the pros, or ayoungster competing at a camp or on an AAU team intended for older players --the future is now when it comes to precocious basketball talents.

"You're seeing moreand more younger players being exposed," said Rick Bolus, who runs HighPotential Basketball Recruiting Service and is a director of the Blue-Chip campin Kentucky."You have players at a younger age playing in national tournaments andgoing to exposure camps or playing on the varsity as a young player. You have alot more Internet information today that tells about all players regardless oftheir age."

Recruiting analyst TomKonchalski discovered this two years ago at a tournament when an acquaintanceintroduced him to "the fourth-best fourth-grader in New York," a distinction that forcedKonchalski to bite his tongue.

"I think it's a verysubtle form of child abuse," Konchalski said of rating young players."It doesn't help anyone. No one knows who's the best sixth-grader. OnlyGod knows, and God's not telling anyone."

"A fifth-grader?"said ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas, a former Duke player andassistant coach. "How are you going to tell anything from a fifth-grader?He brushes his teeth with his left hand? You might be able to say a kid hassome ability relative to his age group, but I just don't see anything good thatcan come out of that. That would be like a company going out and starting torecruit kids when they're in the fifth grade. Could you imagine if Xerox or anybig company recruited fifth-graders? 'We've got our eye on you, son.' "

In terms of basketball,that might not be so far-fetched. Former Louisvilleguard Jeff Hall, who coaches nationally touted eighth-grade point guard O.J.Mayo -- HoopScoop's top player for the class of 2007 -- at Rose Hill Christian Schoolin Ashland, Ky., figures information on players thatyoung must be of use to somebody.

"Let's not befools," Hall said. "These services are rating these kids becausecolleges cannot afford to not turn every rock over to see if there's talent outthere. It goes back to Econ 101 -- supply and demand. If there's demand forknowing who the best fifth- or sixth-graders are, there will be somebody outthere providing that information."

Michigan State Coach TomIzzo said he has looked at information on fifth- and sixth-grade players, mostof them in-state talents he can assess for himself.

"You have to be up onkids," said Izzo, whose Spartans won the NCAA championship in 2000."I'm not sure any ratings are great, [but] if I can get a lead on a kidwho's young and get a first impression, I guess it helps a little bit. I alwayssay the recruiting process hurts more kids than it helps. Sometimes I thinkwe're part of the problem instead of part of the solution."

"I don't really readany of those things because you waste a lot of time on it," said MarylandCoach Gary Williams, who would find four Prince George's County players among Francis's top 14 on theclass of 2007 list. "It really doesn't mean anything. Most coaches recruitplayers who can help their program the way they like to play. It's ridiculousto rate anybody [that young]. . . . Fifth grade is just getting ready to get onthe safety patrol. That's a little out of hand."

Thelma S. Horn, anassociate professor of physical education, health and sport studies at MiamiUniversity in Ohio who specializes in children's sports issues, said loftylabels such as those pinned on Marshall and other players his age could beimpossible for a young athlete to live up to, perhaps both mentally andphysically.

"First of all, therereally isn't all that much correlation between someone being a superstar infifth grade and their junior or senior year in high school, because childrenmature at very different rates," including in eye-hand and eye-footcoordination, Horn said. "The superstars in younger grades are typicallyearly maturers because they're picked for select teams and get the bestcoaching and most attention. The problem comes in when they get to besophomores and juniors in high school. They're not going to grow any more orget stronger simply through maturation, so the other kids catch up to them.

"Under the age of 12,kids don't always think in terms of national comparisons, but once they startthinking [that way], the expectations we set up for them become much heavier."

Marshall has experienced that already.

"People come out tosee him and they expect him to always have a great game, and he's only11," said Kim Marshall, Kendall's mother."He doesn't always have a great game."

Steve Smith, coach atnational high school power Oak Hill Academyin Mouth of Wilson, Va., for the past 18 years, recalls scoring about 30 pointsper game as an elementary school student in Wilmore, Ky.He ended up going to Asbury College in Wilmore, whichat the time did not have a men's basketball program. A promising elementaryschool teammate who was 6 feet tall grew one inch thereafter and eventually gotcut from their high school squad.

"I'm sure there havebeen hordes of kids just like that," Smith said. "I have kids at mycamp and think this kid might be pretty good on down the line, and he neverdevelops. If you're a young kid and you can shoot it, you automatically looklike a player because you put up points, but that may be your only skill.

"You always hear namesin the New Yorkor D.C. areas, and then you never hear about them again. It's usually a smallguard who can shoot or handle the ball well enough to drive by everybody andhe's quicker than everybody else. Sometimes those kids don't grow."

Francis, who has been withHoopScoop for 20 years, says rating elementary school players simply provideshim with a list of prospects to track through their careers. If enough of hiscontacts rave about a particular talent, Francis will add that player to a listthat is fine-tuned each year. The rankings that concern him most are those ofjuniors and seniors in high school.

"Some kids can handle[the rankings] and some need to be sheltered," Francis said. "That'snot my responsibility. That's the responsibility of their parents or coach orteachers or counselors. My responsibility is to find players and be as accurateas possible in ranking them early, and developing a list is one of the ways Ican do that. I want as much information on that kid as possible for as long aspossible.

"What's worse, toshelter a kid throughout most of his growing-up career and suddenly throw himto wolves all at once, or to do it in increments and see if he can handle it?That's what happens with some players -- they get to be sophomores and juniorsin high school and are good enough to play on national AAU teams, but they'resheltered all their lives. Has someone done them a disservice?"

Francis said that he doesfield calls from parents and coaches, but that their complaints center on theirson or player being rated too low. No one, he said, has ever called to ask himto remove their child or player from a list.

For Kendall Marshall, aveteran of three national AAU tournaments and several high-caliber camps, hisranking came as a surprise but not a shock.

At nationals, "Icompared him to the other kids down there who were really good and where Ithought he was," said Dennis Marshall, Kendall'sfather. "But I tried to compare him to the best competition. I'm not sosure about number one, but I know he's a pretty good ballplayer for his age."

Marshall, who lives inDumfries and has attended Evangel Christian since third grade, talked hismother and father and Eagles Coach Jim Fisher into letting him try out for theschool's varsity team this season with players as many as six years older.

"I was at the tryoutsthat day, and he came to me and said, 'Mommy, I'm staying,' " Kim Marshallsaid. "I said, 'For what?' He said, 'The coach said I could try out forvarsity.' I didn't have any idea that he would make the team, and now hestarts."

Not only starts, but stars,playing against what would be considered a weak schedule by public high schoolstandards but a competitive schedule for the Dale City private school, whichhas a K-12 enrollment of about 300. Known as "Butter" by some at hisrecreation center for how smoothly he spreads the ball around, Marshall isaveraging a team-high 12.8 points, with a recent season-high of 23 againstrival Heritage Christian. He has made 48 of 110 three-point attempts, includingseven in one game -- some from NBA range.

By all accounts, he ispopular with his teammates and despite his youth is a vocal leader, oftendirecting the other players to their proper positions on the court. Hisconfidence also is evident: During one recent game he missed two three-pointersin succession, then promptly stole the ball and attempted another three, makingit. Fisher raves about his court awareness and humility.

Never mind that Marshall,who helped lead a Maryland team to an under-11 AAU title last summer, is almosta foot-and-a-half smaller than some teammates and opponents -- he was 4-9 whenfirst rated by HoopScoop. And forget the fact that his jersey is so oversizedfor his slender body that his No. 21 is sometimes unreadable, with the materialbunched around his belly. The broom he uses to sweep the court after some homegames is taller than he is.

"I think heunderstands what [the ranking] means," said Dennis Marshall, who hasspoken with some area private schools about enrolling Marshall in ahigher-profile program by his ninth-grade year. "But when it first cameout, I said: 'Look, this is great that people think this way, but it reallydoesn't mean a whole lot. What it all boils down to is what you do on thecourt.' "

"I try not to payattention to it because I don't want to get a big head," said thesoft-spoken Marshall, a conscientious student who has a firm handshake andkeeps steady eye contact. He easily draws an analogy between his two favoritegames -- basketball and chess -- and on the court, he doesn't show disgust whena teammate muffs one of his crafty passes, which happens frequently. "Iwant to keep the way that I'm going and hopefully succeed in life. I have totrust God to help me to stay level-headed."

That might not be easy.Marshall was one of five boys chosen for the Junior NBA National All-Star Team,which played an exhibition game at Philips Arena in Atlanta as part of the NBAAll-Star Weekend festivities two weeks ago. Marshall, who sleeps with abasketball, just like former Dumfries neighbor and current University ofKentucky player Cliff Hawkins, won the junior skills competition -- a series ofshots, passes through targets and dribbles around pylons -- in 23 seconds, fiveseconds faster than the next-closest competitor.

But Marshall's nationalranking and burst of recognition -- he was featured in a Sports Illustratedcolumn by Rick Reilly -- has come at a cost. To some of his peers, he is nolonger just Kendall Marshall, but No. 1 Kendall Marshall.

"I've gotten some e-mailsabout it, and kids might not speak to me, or act differently towards me,"Marshall said. "I'm guessing [it's] jealousy. I don't know.

"Now I'm starting toknow that those aren't my real friends. My real friends still root for me, andI still root for them. I should know who to trust and who I shouldn't trust."

 

[im not you]

You really don't remember Kendall?
Dude was playing on his school (before he went to O'Connell) HS Varsity squad when he was like 11.

He from VA. Dumfries to be exact.

[h1][h1]A New Meaning for Playground Basketball[/h1][h2]Ranking Systems Put Spotlighton Youngsters[/h2][/h1]
By Preston Williams

Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, February 24, 2003; Page A01

The sweet-shooting southpawin the NBA headband boasts an eye-popping résumé -- national titles, all-stargame appearances, prestigious camp invitations and hobnobbing opportunitieswith Shaquille O'Neal, Yao Ming and even Adam Sandler. He's the No. 1basketball player his age in the United States.

Who knew sixth grade couldbe so rewarding?
[table][tr][td] [table][tr][td]



Dale City's Kendall Marshall is rated the top 11-year-old U.S. basketball player by recruiting service HoopScoop. Ranking children is seen by some adults as necessary, cruel by others.(Kevin Clark -- The Washington Post)
[/td] [/tr][/table]


[table][tr][td]
 
[/td] [/tr][/table]
 

 
[table][tr][td]
 
[/td] [/tr][/table][h2]
[/h2][/td] [/tr][/table]
Online recruitingpublication HoopScoop last summer trumpeted Prince William County residentKendall Marshall, a 5-foot-2, 95-pound point guard on the Evangel Christianhigh school varsity team, as the nation's best player in the high school classof 2009. It was the kind of news that could keep a kid's milk mustache upturnedfor days.

"Is Kendall Marshallthe best sixth-grader in the country? He might be," said recruitinganalyst Clark Francis, editor and publisher of Louisville-based HoopScoop."I've had too many people who have seen him play tell me he's totallyridiculous in terms of his age group."

But not everyone has thereaction Marshallhad -- he called it "cool" -- about hanging national ratings onplayers as young as 10 years old. Some psychologists, coaches and recruitinganalysts say tagging a player at such a tender stage is harmful, no matter howspectacular he might be as a pre-teen. Marshall,now 11, was in fifth grade when he came to Francis's attention.

But with "playingup" an age group becoming a growing trend in amateur basketball -- whetherit's a high schooler or college underclassman jumping to the pros, or ayoungster competing at a camp or on an AAU team intended for older players --the future is now when it comes to precocious basketball talents.

"You're seeing moreand more younger players being exposed," said Rick Bolus, who runs HighPotential Basketball Recruiting Service and is a director of the Blue-Chip campin Kentucky."You have players at a younger age playing in national tournaments andgoing to exposure camps or playing on the varsity as a young player. You have alot more Internet information today that tells about all players regardless oftheir age."

Recruiting analyst TomKonchalski discovered this two years ago at a tournament when an acquaintanceintroduced him to "the fourth-best fourth-grader in New York," a distinction that forcedKonchalski to bite his tongue.

"I think it's a verysubtle form of child abuse," Konchalski said of rating young players."It doesn't help anyone. No one knows who's the best sixth-grader. OnlyGod knows, and God's not telling anyone."

"A fifth-grader?"said ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas, a former Duke player andassistant coach. "How are you going to tell anything from a fifth-grader?He brushes his teeth with his left hand? You might be able to say a kid hassome ability relative to his age group, but I just don't see anything good thatcan come out of that. That would be like a company going out and starting torecruit kids when they're in the fifth grade. Could you imagine if Xerox or anybig company recruited fifth-graders? 'We've got our eye on you, son.' "

In terms of basketball,that might not be so far-fetched. Former Louisvilleguard Jeff Hall, who coaches nationally touted eighth-grade point guard O.J.Mayo -- HoopScoop's top player for the class of 2007 -- at Rose Hill Christian Schoolin Ashland, Ky., figures information on players thatyoung must be of use to somebody.

"Let's not befools," Hall said. "These services are rating these kids becausecolleges cannot afford to not turn every rock over to see if there's talent outthere. It goes back to Econ 101 -- supply and demand. If there's demand forknowing who the best fifth- or sixth-graders are, there will be somebody outthere providing that information."

Michigan State Coach TomIzzo said he has looked at information on fifth- and sixth-grade players, mostof them in-state talents he can assess for himself.

"You have to be up onkids," said Izzo, whose Spartans won the NCAA championship in 2000."I'm not sure any ratings are great, [but] if I can get a lead on a kidwho's young and get a first impression, I guess it helps a little bit. I alwayssay the recruiting process hurts more kids than it helps. Sometimes I thinkwe're part of the problem instead of part of the solution."

"I don't really readany of those things because you waste a lot of time on it," said MarylandCoach Gary Williams, who would find four Prince George's County players among Francis's top 14 on theclass of 2007 list. "It really doesn't mean anything. Most coaches recruitplayers who can help their program the way they like to play. It's ridiculousto rate anybody [that young]. . . . Fifth grade is just getting ready to get onthe safety patrol. That's a little out of hand."

Thelma S. Horn, anassociate professor of physical education, health and sport studies at MiamiUniversity in Ohio who specializes in children's sports issues, said loftylabels such as those pinned on Marshall and other players his age could beimpossible for a young athlete to live up to, perhaps both mentally andphysically.

"First of all, therereally isn't all that much correlation between someone being a superstar infifth grade and their junior or senior year in high school, because childrenmature at very different rates," including in eye-hand and eye-footcoordination, Horn said. "The superstars in younger grades are typicallyearly maturers because they're picked for select teams and get the bestcoaching and most attention. The problem comes in when they get to besophomores and juniors in high school. They're not going to grow any more orget stronger simply through maturation, so the other kids catch up to them.

"Under the age of 12,kids don't always think in terms of national comparisons, but once they startthinking [that way], the expectations we set up for them become much heavier."

Marshall has experienced that already.

"People come out tosee him and they expect him to always have a great game, and he's only11," said Kim Marshall, Kendall's mother."He doesn't always have a great game."

Steve Smith, coach atnational high school power Oak Hill Academyin Mouth of Wilson, Va., for the past 18 years, recalls scoring about 30 pointsper game as an elementary school student in Wilmore, Ky.He ended up going to Asbury College in Wilmore, whichat the time did not have a men's basketball program. A promising elementaryschool teammate who was 6 feet tall grew one inch thereafter and eventually gotcut from their high school squad.

"I'm sure there havebeen hordes of kids just like that," Smith said. "I have kids at mycamp and think this kid might be pretty good on down the line, and he neverdevelops. If you're a young kid and you can shoot it, you automatically looklike a player because you put up points, but that may be your only skill.

"You always hear namesin the New Yorkor D.C. areas, and then you never hear about them again. It's usually a smallguard who can shoot or handle the ball well enough to drive by everybody andhe's quicker than everybody else. Sometimes those kids don't grow."

Francis, who has been withHoopScoop for 20 years, says rating elementary school players simply provideshim with a list of prospects to track through their careers. If enough of hiscontacts rave about a particular talent, Francis will add that player to a listthat is fine-tuned each year. The rankings that concern him most are those ofjuniors and seniors in high school.

"Some kids can handle[the rankings] and some need to be sheltered," Francis said. "That'snot my responsibility. That's the responsibility of their parents or coach orteachers or counselors. My responsibility is to find players and be as accurateas possible in ranking them early, and developing a list is one of the ways Ican do that. I want as much information on that kid as possible for as long aspossible.

"What's worse, toshelter a kid throughout most of his growing-up career and suddenly throw himto wolves all at once, or to do it in increments and see if he can handle it?That's what happens with some players -- they get to be sophomores and juniorsin high school and are good enough to play on national AAU teams, but they'resheltered all their lives. Has someone done them a disservice?"

Francis said that he doesfield calls from parents and coaches, but that their complaints center on theirson or player being rated too low. No one, he said, has ever called to ask himto remove their child or player from a list.

For Kendall Marshall, aveteran of three national AAU tournaments and several high-caliber camps, hisranking came as a surprise but not a shock.

At nationals, "Icompared him to the other kids down there who were really good and where Ithought he was," said Dennis Marshall, Kendall'sfather. "But I tried to compare him to the best competition. I'm not sosure about number one, but I know he's a pretty good ballplayer for his age."

Marshall, who lives inDumfries and has attended Evangel Christian since third grade, talked hismother and father and Eagles Coach Jim Fisher into letting him try out for theschool's varsity team this season with players as many as six years older.

"I was at the tryoutsthat day, and he came to me and said, 'Mommy, I'm staying,' " Kim Marshallsaid. "I said, 'For what?' He said, 'The coach said I could try out forvarsity.' I didn't have any idea that he would make the team, and now hestarts."

Not only starts, but stars,playing against what would be considered a weak schedule by public high schoolstandards but a competitive schedule for the Dale City private school, whichhas a K-12 enrollment of about 300. Known as "Butter" by some at hisrecreation center for how smoothly he spreads the ball around, Marshall isaveraging a team-high 12.8 points, with a recent season-high of 23 againstrival Heritage Christian. He has made 48 of 110 three-point attempts, includingseven in one game -- some from NBA range.

By all accounts, he ispopular with his teammates and despite his youth is a vocal leader, oftendirecting the other players to their proper positions on the court. Hisconfidence also is evident: During one recent game he missed two three-pointersin succession, then promptly stole the ball and attempted another three, makingit. Fisher raves about his court awareness and humility.

Never mind that Marshall,who helped lead a Maryland team to an under-11 AAU title last summer, is almosta foot-and-a-half smaller than some teammates and opponents -- he was 4-9 whenfirst rated by HoopScoop. And forget the fact that his jersey is so oversizedfor his slender body that his No. 21 is sometimes unreadable, with the materialbunched around his belly. The broom he uses to sweep the court after some homegames is taller than he is.

"I think heunderstands what [the ranking] means," said Dennis Marshall, who hasspoken with some area private schools about enrolling Marshall in ahigher-profile program by his ninth-grade year. "But when it first cameout, I said: 'Look, this is great that people think this way, but it reallydoesn't mean a whole lot. What it all boils down to is what you do on thecourt.' "

"I try not to payattention to it because I don't want to get a big head," said thesoft-spoken Marshall, a conscientious student who has a firm handshake andkeeps steady eye contact. He easily draws an analogy between his two favoritegames -- basketball and chess -- and on the court, he doesn't show disgust whena teammate muffs one of his crafty passes, which happens frequently. "Iwant to keep the way that I'm going and hopefully succeed in life. I have totrust God to help me to stay level-headed."

That might not be easy.Marshall was one of five boys chosen for the Junior NBA National All-Star Team,which played an exhibition game at Philips Arena in Atlanta as part of the NBAAll-Star Weekend festivities two weeks ago. Marshall, who sleeps with abasketball, just like former Dumfries neighbor and current University ofKentucky player Cliff Hawkins, won the junior skills competition -- a series ofshots, passes through targets and dribbles around pylons -- in 23 seconds, fiveseconds faster than the next-closest competitor.

But Marshall's nationalranking and burst of recognition -- he was featured in a Sports Illustratedcolumn by Rick Reilly -- has come at a cost. To some of his peers, he is nolonger just Kendall Marshall, but No. 1 Kendall Marshall.

"I've gotten some e-mailsabout it, and kids might not speak to me, or act differently towards me,"Marshall said. "I'm guessing [it's] jealousy. I don't know.

"Now I'm starting toknow that those aren't my real friends. My real friends still root for me, andI still root for them. I should know who to trust and who I shouldn't trust."

 

[ryanbbn23]

he doesnt move like other 11-12 year olds move. his body control is that of a high schooler.

 

[ryanbbn23]

he doesnt move like other 11-12 year olds move. his body control is that of a high schooler.