KJ Marshall was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, the hometown of Jeff and Jason Capel. The 2019 point guard has also played and worked out in the Felton Capel Arena, a building named after the Capel brothers’ late father.
Marshall will have the chance to be around the Capels a lot more after deciding today to join the Pitt Panther basketball program as a 2019 walk-on.
“My main communication at Pitt has been with Jason Capel since my senior season ended,” Marshall told Pittsburgh Sports Now. “I’ve been looking for a basketball home for me to continue at and my AAU director made some phone calls. Plus, my old high school teammate Au’Diese Toney, is at Pitt now. Once we got in contact with Pitt that’s all she wrote because getting a chance to play for Jeff and Jason Capel is something I really wanted to do from the beginning.”
“Getting a chance to play for Jeff Capel is very special. Everyday I go play basketball at the open gym at Coach Capel Arena. They’re a very special family in my hometown, everyone knows them and raves about them. Everyone talks about how their family created the blue print for Fayetteville basketball so it means a whole lot to get the opportunity to play for them. I’m just so excited to get up there.”
Marshall is a player that described as the ultimate team player, someone that can properly run an offense and is willing to sacrifice his individual numbers for the betterment of the team.
“I’ve never looked at it as me needing 25 points and 10 assists a night,” said Marshall. “That’s not me and who I am. I feel like a point guard isn’t judged by the numbers, a point guard is judged by the wins kind of like the quarterback of a football team. I’m not about the stats, I’m about making winning plays for my guys, I’m about bringing energy and about winning. I’d rather be a four point scorer and 20 point win than someone that scores 40 points and loses the game. That’s the model I’ve followed for myself.”
Marshall is joining Pitt because they have a need at the point guard position and he’ll get the opportunity to earn some valuable minutes backing up Xavier Johnson at point guard. He says that he’ll do whatever is asked of him and work hard to earn the trust of his new teammates and the coaching staff.
“I feel like I can contribute in a lot of ways on and off the court. I will be bringing a lot of energy, I’ll get after you on the defensive end and can pick you up full court, I believe I can shoot and can be a vocal leader on the team. I’m a team guy and will bring positive energy every single night.”
Marshall tells me that because he’s a late addition to the roster, he won’t be joining the team in Italy because he hasn’t attended any summer classes. He will be coming to town this weekend to get acclimated to things and then return full-time in the fall.
