Marshall Thundering Herd
2021-2022 Overall Rank: #109
Conference Rank: #5 Conference USA
In 2018, Marshall won an NCAA Tournament game, upsetting fourth seeded Wichita State. A year later they won the CIT. In 2019-2020, the Thundering Herd took a step back, but they recovered last year and finished the 2020-2021 campaign with a 15-7 overall record. This will be an interesting season for Coach Dan D’Antoni and company. There are some losses, but there is also young talent on this team. And the staff did not go out and grab any transfers. Thus, this will be a relatively inexperienced team compared to many of their Conference USA counterparts.
2020-21 Record: 15-7, 9-5
2020-21 Postseason: None
Coach: Dan D’Antoni
Coach Record: 128-99 at Marshall, 128-99 overall
Key Departed Players:
Jarrod West, Guard, 12.5 ppg
Jannson Williams, Forward, 9.4 ppg
Key Returning Players:
Taevion Kinsey, Senior, Guard, 19.5 ppg
Andrew Taylor, Junior, Guard, 12.0 ppg
Obinna Anochili-Killen, Sophomore, Forward, 5.8 ppg
Mikel Beyers, Senior, Forward, 8.4 ppg
Darius George, Senior, Forward, 6.0 ppg
David Early, Sophomore, Guard, 4.1 ppg
Goran Miladinovic, Junior, Center, 3.3 ppg
Devin Collins, Sophomore, Guard, 1.3 ppg
Marko Sarenac, Junior, Guard/Forward, 0.9 ppg
Key New Players:
Kyle Braun, Freshman, Guard
Wyatt Fricks, Freshman, Forward
Chase McKey, Freshman, Forward
Aymeric Toussaint, Freshman, Guard/Forward
CJ Meredith, Sophomore, Guard/Forward
Projection:
Losing Jarrod West to Louisville was a big blow, but Marshall still has two stars in the backcourt. Taevion Kinsey is a big 6-5 guard who is nearly impossible to stop when he is slashing to the basket. Last season Kinsey ended the campaign averaging 19.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists. Andrew Taylor will now completely take over the point guard duties. He tallied 12.0 points, 4.0 assists and 5.8 rebounds and is ready to do even more in 2021-2022. Seniors Mikel Beyers and Darius George will anchor the frontcourt, but emerging sophomore Obinna Anochili-Killen was a regular starter last season and Marshall will need him to continue his development and play a larger role this year. The Thundering Herd also has a handful of very interesting role players who have a lot of potential. David Early showed some promise as a freshman and Marko Sarenac is a versatile player who has yet to really find his spot on this team. Coach D’Antoni also brings in five newcomers who should at least be able to fill out the rotation. Kinsey and Taylor can take this group pretty far, but if the rest of the pieces fall into place, Marshall will remain competitive in Conference USA.
Projected Postseason Tournament: CBI/CIT
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 79.9 (23rd in nation, 1st in conference)
Scoring Defense: 72.5 (236, 11)
Field-Goal Percentage: 47.5 (31, 1)
Field-Goal Defense: 43.4 (176, 10)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 9.3 (26, 4)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 36.0 (70, 3)
Free-Throw Percentage: 72.5 (116, 7)
Rebound Margin: -1.9 (244, 12)
Assists Per Game: 15.9 (31, 1)
Turnovers Per Game: 12.0 (81, 4)
Madness 2022 NBA Draft Rankings:
#22 Taevion Kinsey
