Naji Marshall
Marshall with Xavier in 2019
No. 8 – New Orleans Pelicans
PositionSmall forward
LeagueNBA
Personal information
Born (1998-01-24) January 24, 1998
Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
High school
CollegeXavier (2017–2020)
NBA draft2020: undrafted
Playing career2020–present
Career history
2020–presentNew Orleans Pelicans
2021→Erie BayHawks
2022→Birmingham Squadron
Career highlights and awards
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats  at Basketball-Reference.com

Naji Maurice Marshall (born January 24, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Xavier Musketeers.

Early life and high school career

Marshall was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey but moved to Maryland at the age of 9.[1] He is the son of Maurice Marshall, who was a professional boxer and is now a basketball coach at an elementary school, and Rayna Whitted, who works at Providence Hospital in Washington, D.C. His name means "strong warrior" in Arabic and was a nickname of his father's. Marshall has five brothers and one sister and grew up playing football and basketball, though he grew to favor basketball.[2] In middle school, he played in Atlantic City’s Triple-B summer youth league.[1]

He played his first season of high school basketball at Takoma Academy. As a sophomore, he transferred to Eleanor Roosevelt High School to play under coach Brendan O'Connell but was academically ineligible his first year. As a senior, Marshall averaged 17 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals per game. He led Eleanor Roosevelt to a 23–3 record and scored 27 points to lead the Raiders past Perry Hall High School 69–59, in the Maryland 4A state semifinals. He decided to attend the Hargrave Military Academy as a postgraduate student to improve his academics.[3] Marshall averaged 20.7 points and 11.4 rebounds per game at Hargrave Military Academy.[4] He competed for DC Premier on the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) circuit.[5] Marshall received scholarship offers from Pittsburgh, South Carolina, and Virginia Tech, but committed to playing college basketball for Xavier because he liked the culture.[2] He was considered to be a four-star prospect by three recruiting sites, and ESPN ranked him as the 20th best small forward in his class.[5]

College career

Marshall contributed 12 points and four rebounds in his collegiate opening game against Morehead State.[5] He scored a season-high 21 points in a 89–77 win over Georgetown on February 21, 2018.[6] Marshall was named to the Big East All-Freshman team.[7] As a freshman, Marshall averaged 7.7 points and 4.4 rebounds per game and made 18 starts. In the summer before his sophomore season, Marshall worked on improving his jump shot and his conditioning.[2]

Marshall earned his first Big East player of the week honors on December 31, 2018 after scoring 19 points, grabbing a career-high 14 rebounds, and dished out four assists in a 74–65 win against DePaul.[8] After scoring 28 points in a win at Seton Hall on February 20, 2019, and recording 17 points in a win over Villanova on February 24, Marshall was again named Big East player of the week.[9] On February 28, Marshall scored a career-high 31 points as Xavier defeated St. John's 84–73.[10] Marshall missed a game against St. John's with an ankle injury on March 9. He was named to the Second Team All-Big East by the coaches as a sophomore.[11] Marshall averaged 14.7 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game, shooting 39.4 percent from the field and 27.7 percent from behind the arc. After the season, he declared for the 2019 NBA draft but withdrew his name and returned to Xavier.[12]

Coming into his junior season, Marshall was named to the preseason First Team All-Big East and was on the watchlist for the Julius Erving Award.[13] On December 7, Marshall tied his career-high of 31 points in a 73–66 win over Cincinnati in the Crosstown Shootout.[14] He sat out a game against Western Carolina on December 18 with a stomach virus.[15] On February 1, 2020, Marshall contributed 19 points, 10 rebounds and four assists in a 74–62 upset of tenth-ranked Seton Hall despite playing with the flu.[16] Marshall hit the game-winning three-pointer with 4.5 seconds left in a 66–63 win at Georgetown on March 1, finishing with 20 points and 10 rebounds.[17] At the conclusion of the regular season, Marshall was named to the First Team All-Big East.[18] He averaged 16.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game.[19] Following the season, Marshall declared for the 2020 NBA draft.[20] On April 9, he announced he was signing with an agent, thus forgoing his remaining season of collegiate eligibility. Marshall scored 1,277 points in three seasons as a Musketeer.[21]

Professional career

After going unselected in the 2020 NBA draft, Marshall signed a two-way contract with the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and their NBA G League affiliate, the Erie BayHawks on December 8, 2020.[22] On January 15, 2021, Marshall made his NBA debut against the Los Angeles Lakers.[23] He began receiving consistent minutes in April due to a rash of injuries to players.[1] On May 7, 2021, the Pelicans signed him to a multi-year contract.[24] In his rookie season, Marshall averaged 7.7 points and 4.6 rebounds per game for the Pelicans, shooting 39.2 percent from the field.[25]

In January 2022 he and Trey Murphy III were assigned to the Pelicans' G League affiliate, the Birmingham Squadron.[26]

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

NBA

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2020–21 New Orleans 321021.9.392.349.7074.62.8.8.37.7
2021–22 New Orleans 55413.4.405.200.7962.61.1.6.15.7
2022–23 New Orleans 772123.3.433.303.7893.62.5.7.29.1
Career 1643519.7.418.286.7733.52.1.7.27.7

Play-in

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2022 New Orleans 2011.0.667.000.6253.51.0.0.04.5
2023 New Orleans 108.9.500.000–1.0.0.0.02.0
Career 3010.3.600.000.6252.7.7.0.03.7

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2022 New Orleans 609.3.700—1.0001.0.8.2.23.0
Career 609.3.700—1.0001.0.8.2.23.0

College

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2017–18 Xavier 351821.8.530.349.7534.41.6.7.37.7
2018–19 Xavier 333335.9.394.277.7227.23.41.1.214.7
2019–20 Xavier 313135.7.445.286.7106.34.01.3.416.8
Career 998230.9.439.289.7255.93.01.0.312.9

References

  1. 1 2 3 McGarry, Mike (July 26, 2021). "Naji Marshall - An NBA and Atlantic City success story". Press of Atlantic City. Retrieved November 6, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 Baum, Adam (October 3, 2018). "The quiet confidence of Naji Marshall: Is he Xavier basketball's next big star?". Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  3. ↑ Giannotto, Mark (March 11, 2016). "Naji Marshall's maturation on and off the court sparks Eleanor Roosevelt's title quest". Washington Post. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  4. ↑ Russell, Shannon (October 9, 2019). "Family focus: Tight-knit relationships at home and Xavier mold Naji Marshall". The Athletic. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  5. 1 2 3 Russell, Shannon (January 17, 2018). "Russell: Freshman Naji Marshall has made an instant impact for the Xavier Musketeers". WCPO. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  6. ↑ "Marshall helps No. 4 Xavier beat Georgetown 89-77". ESPN. Associated Press. February 21, 2018. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  7. ↑ "Xavier's Bluiett, Villanova's Brunson, Butler's Martin Unanimously Named All-Big East" (Press release). Big East Conference. March 4, 2018. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  8. ↑ "Xavier's Marshall, Georgetown's LeBlanc Earn MBB Weekly Honors". Big East Conference. December 31, 2018. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
  9. ↑ "Xavier's Marshall named Big East Conference Player of the Week". WKRC. February 25, 2019. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  10. ↑ "Marshall scores 31 to lift Xavier over St. John's 84-73". USA Today. Associated Press. February 28, 2019. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  11. ↑ Baum, Adam (March 10, 2019). "Xavier Musketeers forward Naji Marshall named All-Big East Conference second team". Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  12. ↑ Broering, Rick (May 5, 2019). "Naji Marshall withdraws from NBA Draft, will return to Xavier". 247 Sports. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  13. ↑ Baum, Adam (October 18, 2019). "Xavier's Naji Marshall, Tyrique Jones named to national award watch lists". Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  14. ↑ "Marshall scores 31, Xavier beats rival Cincinnati 73-66". ESPN. Associated Press. December 7, 2019. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  15. ↑ Hall, Eric (December 18, 2019). "Xavier leading scorer Naji Marshall not playing vs. Western Carolina basketball". Asheville Citizen Times. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  16. ↑ Baum, Adam (February 1, 2020). "'Not MJ bad, but you know': Xavier star Naji Marshall played through the flu at Seton Hall". Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  17. ↑ "Marshall's 3-pointer gives Xavier win over Georgetown 66-63". WKRC. Associated Press. March 1, 2020. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  18. ↑ Baum, Adam (March 8, 2020). "Xavier basketball players honored on All-Big East Conference teams". Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
  19. ↑ Russell, Shannon (March 13, 2020). "Looking ahead to Xavier's Team 99 after an abrupt ending to the season". The Athletic. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
  20. ↑ Baum, Adam (March 26, 2020). "Report: Xavier's Naji Marshall has declared for the 2020 NBA Draft". Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
  21. ↑ Brennan, Pat (April 9, 2020). "Naji Marshall's Xavier basketball career is over after he signs with an agent". Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
  22. ↑ "Pelicans sign Naji Marshall". NBA.com. December 8, 2020. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  23. ↑ Trahan, Ken (January 15, 2021). "Pelicans blown away by Lakers despite early 15-point lead". Crescent City Sports. Retrieved November 6, 2021.
  24. ↑ "Pelicans sign Naji Marshall". NBA.com. May 7, 2021. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
  25. ↑ Rude, Jacob (June 8, 2021). "2020-21 New Orleans Pelicans Player Review: Naji Marshall". Lonzo Wire. Retrieved November 6, 2021.
  26. ↑ "New Orleans Pelicans Assign Naji Marshall and Trey Murphy Iii to Birmingham Squadron". Nola.com. January 22, 2022. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
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