Louisville Signee Marra Lights Up Rhode Island

by Zach Smart

Smithfield, R.I.—The word spread around New England at the same rate that a Providence club promoter hypes up pre-thanksgiving rage-fest.

It was some simple buzz about the local product who was making a pretty eventful homecoming. Smithfield’s very own Mike Marra, the quick-strike three-point assassin on Northfield-Mount Hermon (Northfield, Mass.), was supposedly the best Rhode Island-bred sniper on this side of T.J. Sorrentine.

Sorrentine, the former Vermont standout who’s now an assistant at Brown, was drawing up Xs and Os just 15 minutes down the road at the Pizzitola Center in Providence, where Northwestern defeated Brown despite a valiant second-half comeback.

So for Marra, the Louisville-signee who’s tight with Rick Pitino and his son Richard, the game would be a real test of his manhood.

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Forty minutes after the tip-off, the hometown kid was being hounded by reporters and even the local news station. He passed the test in flying colors, and the word around the campfire proved prophetic.

Marra scored a game-high 25 points, including two on an extravagant two-handed fast break dunk, as NMH rolled to a 91-63 washout over Fork Union.

NMH’s avalanche of threes, easy layups and stickbacks led to the dumpoff.
“
It felt real good,” said Marra, who raved about his teammates and their ability to shoot the ball.

“When one of us has an off-night, there’s always another guy there to pick us up. Everyone can shoot the ball.”

There was no room for an off-night last night, as Marra and highly-touted recruit Hector Harold (Boston College, Stanford, Pepperdine, California, UC-Santa Clara) shot the lights out early, en route to a smoking 14-for-26 (9-for-18 3fg), 50-point duet.

Marra picked up where he left off, right off the bat in the second half. He swiped an errant pass and raced down the court for the aforementioned flush. After throwing down a monster two-handed jam, the 6-foot-5, 195-pound guard let out a revved up roar, as NHM reached a hefty lead they wouldn’t squander.

NHM shot 46 percent in the second half, when the game evolved into scrub life. To paraphrase Marv Albert, it was supreme garbage time during the waning minutes.

“I made the decision about a year ago,” said Marra, referring to his choice to go to the Big East.

Marra, a zone buster (which helps any team's college basketball odds and pure silk-shooter whose game has drawn comparisons to Notre Dame’s Kyle McLarney, chose Louisville over Syracuse, Wake Forest, Michigan, UMass, and several other mid to high-major schools.

He followed a path that few college basketball players have taken.

Like West Virginia’s Joe Mazzulla, he passed up the Providence/URI lure to stay in-state and went out of state to a Big East program.

Though he’s not too familiar with most of the team yet, Marra plans on getting to know his future teammates soon. As a true freshman, he’d be a great supplement to Jerry Smith and Edgar Sosa in the perimeter game.

In order for him to make an immediate impact, however, his handles and mid-range shooting could use some upgrades.

Samuels Named Big East Rookie of the Week: Freshman forward/center Samuerdo Samuels, the much-hyped blue chip recruit, was announced as the conference’s first Big East Rookie of the Week on Nov.24. The award comes in the aftermath of Samuels’ two marquee performances that helped the Cardinals eat up the cupcakes of the Billy Minardi Classic. The 6-foot-8 Jamaica-born neophyte averaged 21 points, five boards, two block shots, and shot a blazing 77.3 percent (17-for-22) during the first two games of his collegiate career.

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BIG EAST TOP TWO-GUARDS 2008-2009: 7) JERRY SMITH

November 11, 2008


Wauwatosa (WI) native Jerry Smith returns for his junior season with the Louisville Cardinals. As a sophomore, Smith scored 10.7 PPG and led the Cards with 68 made three-pointers.

As a freshman, Smith hit 48% (55-115) from beyond the arc, a conference best. With Rick Pitino's favorable use of the three-point shot in his offense, Smith's ability to connect from long distance will keep him on the court, even with Pitino's penchant for rotating his backcourt players.

Smith will have some help from the perimeter as well with Mississippi State transfer Reginald Delk becoming eligible and another year of experience for Edgar Sosa and Preston Knowles, who both could see time at both guard positions. Senior Andre McGee is likely to play solely point guard and is a pass-first lead guard that has developed a good rapport with Smith.

Strong guard play always helps enhance the college basketball odds of the contenders. Louisville has a group that is high in potential, now they just need to add consistency to their resume. Jerry Smith is one that could be ready to break out this year.

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2008-2009 PREVIEW: 1) LOUISVILLE

November 9, 2008


When Rick Pitino publicly says this could be his most talented team since coming to Louisville, you tend to take notice. After all, he has already had a Final Four team and last year’s club reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament before falling to North Carolina in the Regional Final since taking over as head coach of the Cards.

So, after reviewing fifteen other Big East teams for the 2008-2009 season, we have settled in on Louisville as our preseason #1 club. The Cards edge out Connecticut for the designation as the team to beat in the country’s toughest conference, but the teams really could be titled #1 and #1-A.

Rick Pitino has a squad with an NBA caliber frontcourt and an interesting mix in the backcourt. If a point guard emerges willing to take control of the team and make those around him better, then this Card squad should have a little bit of everything needed to challenge nationally for a title.

With point guard the biggest question mark heading into the season, the health of Terrence Williams had many around the program holding their breath when he crumpled to the floor this preseason with a knee injury. Original fears of a torn ACL were quelled after an MRI revealed a lesser tear. Williams returned to practice this week and should easily be at 100% in plenty of time for Big East battles.

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Comings:

The new big man on campus at Louisville is 6-foot-8 freshman Samardo Samuels. The 240 pound manchild out of St. Benedict’s Prep (NJ) was a McDonald’s All-American last season. He has the physical stature to hold his own in the Big East from the get-go.

Joining Samuels as newcomers in the frontcourt are Terrence Jennings, an athletic 6-foot-10 C/F from Notre Dame Prep (MA) and IMG Academy product, via St. Louis (MO) Jared Swopshire, a 6-foot-7 forward. The final true freshman newcomer is 6-foot-4 guard from Evansville (IN) Kyle Juric.

Also making their Louisville debuts this season will be Reginald Delk, who is eligible after sitting out last season following a transfer from Mississippi State, and George Goode, a redshirt freshman from Missouri who sat out last season due to academics.


Goings:

The door out of Louisville was a bit busy as well. Leading scorer David Padgett completed an injury filled career with an excellent season. His importance to the team was always made clear publicly by his coach. Also graduating was Terrance Farley who saw limited action in the frontcourt in his four year career with the Cards.

The final member of last year’s team not around this season is the walking distraction that was more commonly known as Derrick Caracter. The uber-talented, but rarely motivated Caracter drove coach Pitino crazy over two years with on again and off again distractions. The final straw seemed to happen several times, but as his teammates were preparing for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight, Caracter spent his time talking about the NBA and his future plans.


Net Impact:

The loss of Padgett is definitely something that should not be overlooked. Although Samuels will likely put up numbers that will likely surpass Padgett’s, it was the full package that Padgett brought to the Cards that is unlikely to be replaced this season. However, Samuels is the real deal and will bring a tremendous amount of pure talent and production, even as a freshman.

The loss of Caracter is likely to be addition by subtraction, but it is taking a big chunk of their frontcourt production from a season ago out of the mix. Freshman forwards Goode and Swopshire will find things tough in the Big East this year and Jennings also needs to get stronger, but he should play a solid role.

The addition of Delk’s shooting ability will help the Cards in a key area of their attack. Kuric is also an excellent shooter, but his impact is more looked at to be down the road for the Cards.

The addition of Samuels is big for the Cards and should be enough to push them forward this season as a team.


2008-2009 Backcourt Outlook:

When you look at the Louisville line-up the biggest area of concern is at the point guard. Having an efficient and consistent floor general increases a team’s NCAA basketball odds of a successful season greatly. While the duo of Andre McGee and Edgar Sosa is more than adequate for a successful team, if one of these two, especially Sosa, can take the reigns of this team in the manner Rick Pitino would like then this is definitely a team with the potential to be special.

Sosa averaged 7.6 points a game last year while getting just over 21 minutes a game. Sosa tends to get caught up in his own offensive chances too much and his numbers of 1.8 assists to 1.5 turnovers a game needs to improve, both in terms of more assists and a better ration. Sosa has plenty of talents, but running a team in the way his coach wants is the area he needs to improve in the most.

McGee, a senior, played just over 20 minutes, averaging 6.5 points and 1.9 assists compared to 0.9 turnovers a contest. McGee is more consistent with the ball, but is not the offensively talented lead guard that Sosa is. Coach Pitino wants his point guard to have the ability to be a dynamic scorer, but wants him to understand the role of team leader, too.

At the two-guard, junior Jerry Smith returns as the incumbent. Last year Smith averaged 10.7 points a game and hit a team-high 68 three-pointers at a 38% clip. Smith rebounded from a poor finish to the Big East season to hit 11 of 22 from beyond the arc in the NCAA Tournament where he averaged 13.5 points in the four games.

Joining Smith at the two-guard is Mississippi State transfer Reginald Delk, a nephew of former Kentucky guard Tony Delk who played for Rick Pitino at UK. Reginald is a 6-foot-4 guard who is a long-range shooting threat and he averaged over 9 points a game as a sophomore in the SEC in the 2006-2007 season, shooting 63-138 (38%) from the arc in 35 games. One scary stat, however, Reginald was 15-37 from the free throw line as a sophomore.

Rounding out the backcourt for the 2008-2009 Louisville Cardinals will be sophomore Preston Knowles, freshman Kyle Kuric and senior walk-on Will Scott. Knowles is a player that could find himself prominently in the mix for playing time this year. As a freshman, he averaged over 11 minutes a game from February through the close of the season, seeing more of a spike (13 minutes a game) in the postseason. Kuric is a promising young player that is likely to spend this year as mostly an observer behind the other more experienced players. Scott appeared in 27 games last year and his ability to make the perimeter shot will continue to find him minutes here and there under coach Pitino.


2008-2009 Frontcourt Outlook:

Louisville is considered to have an NBA frontline this season with small forward Terrence Williams, power forward Earl Clark and center Samardo Samuels. It is a good bet that all three could be getting paid to play next year at this time in the NBA.

Williams looks to have made a quick recovery from his preseason injury scare. The highly athletic and strong 6-foot-6 senior has had three consistent years with the Cards, but he always seems to be leaving observers wanting a little more. As a junior, Williams averaged 11.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and a team-high 4.5 assists a game. Williams shot 41% from the field, a career best, but still struggled from the free throw line (57%) and relies too much on the three-ball (49-144), shooting 34% from the arc. Williams is a very good defender and fills the stat sheet, but the tools are there for more. This could be the season we see it.

At the power forward is the versatile and multi-talented Earl Clark. As a sophomore Clark began to consistently show the potential for greatness. He averaged 11.1 points and team-highs in rebounds (8.1) and blocked shots (1.7). After the season, against the advice of coach Pitino, Clark declared for the NBA draft and with his length, athletic ability and perimeter skills in a 6-foot-8, 220 pound body, plenty of NBA teams were interested. However, Clark surprised many by recanting and deciding to return to school. Expectations are high for the Cards this season and Clark’s decision to return is a very big reason why. Look for a big year from him this season.

The player probably in the spotlight the most this season for Louisville is 6’8 frosh Samardo Samuels. The 240 pound beast looks to be made for waging war in the paint in this conference. His broad shoulders and tree-trunk legs will help him find life in the lane during Big East contests a little more bearable than it is for most freshman. Pegged as the co-freshman of the year by the conference coaches in the preseason poll, Samuels is poised to have a season unlike most freshman post players in the Big East.

While point guard is a question, the Cards do have players with experience and past success in the Big East to at least share the position. Frontcourt depth on the other hand is a question due to complete inexperience. 6-foot-10 Terrence Jennings, 6-foot-8 George Goode and 6-foot-7 Jared Swopshire, all freshman, make up the personnel behind Williams, Clark and Samuels. While all three are talented and all three are likely to be solid role players this year, not having an experienced big man to plug a hole here and there could be a factor from time to time in the Big East. In fact, the frontcourt for Louisville is manned by four freshman out of the six players.


2008-2009 Team Outlook:

The 2008-2009 season brings high expectations for Rick Pitino and his Louisville Cardinals. Even though their first outing was far from impressive as they struggled to beat NAIA Georgetown College, it was likely the start Rick Pitino was hoping for to bring them down to earth just a bit.

Getting Terrence Williams fully healthy and getting the freshman some key experience as they will play big roles this season will be the immediate action items for November. The talent up and down the roster for this year’s club is impressive and you can see why coach Pitino favorably compares this group to any he has had at Louisville previously.

The one hope is for a point guard to emerge as the team leader, from there, everything could fall into place for a banner season at Louisville. It very well could be one with a Big East championship or a Final Four (or more) banner, we will see if they can reach their potential as a team, and not just as individuals.



2008-2009 Big East Prediction: 14-4

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BIG EAST FOOTBALL PREVIEW: GAME #9 LOUISVILLE

November 7, 2008


Led by Lesean McCoy's 169 yards rushing and Conor Lee's five fields goals, Pittsburgh earned a huge road victory by upending Notre Dame in South Bend, 36-33. Lee was clutch all afternoon and into the early evening, hitting four of four fields goals in each overtime 'session', including a 22-yarder that followed Brandon Walker's miss in the Irish offensive series of the fourth OT to give the Panthers the win.

Pittsburgh used the win as a bounceback from their previous game, a 54-34 home loss to Rutgers. Now they need to gain some momentum again in the conference as the host Louisville this weekend. The Panthers are 6-2 overall and 2-1 in the conference. For the first time in Dave Wannstedt's four years as the Pitt head coach, the college bowls are in his site and the conference's BCS berth is a legitimate chance for his team.

Louisville on the other hand continues to struggle with inconsistency. The Cards could have put themselves into the conference mix, but a 28-21 loss to Syracuse last weekend was just another reminder of the problems the Cards have. The Orange had yet to beat a 1-A team this season, but Louisville allowed the anemic Orange to roll up over 200 yards rushing to earn their first Big East win since their upset of Louisville in September of 2007.

Victor Anderson continues to be a bright spot for the Cards as he piled up another 100-yard game last week. On the year, he is averaging over 6 yards a carry and 100 yards a game.

The NCAA Odds currently show the Panthers a 6 1/2-pt favorites on their home field. It definitely has the makings of a Pitt win as Lesean McCoy will be the best player in the game, once again, and if SU could rack up over 200 yards against the UL defense last week on the ground, expect Pitt to find success as well.

Dealing with success does seem to be something the Panthers struggle with. Home losses to Bowling Green and Rutgers offer a reminder not to go too heavy into falling for Pitt quite yet. While I fully expect the Panther ground atatck to have a lot of success and their solid defense to keep UL at bay, this does has the makings of a game Pitt allows Louisville to hang around. Once again, I think Pitt will be glad to hve Conor Lee and his foot will be the difference.

Prediction:

Pittsburgh 27
Louisville 24

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BIG EAST TOP POINT GUARDS 2008-2009: 8) EDGAR SOSA

November 5, 2008


Based on potential heading into last season, Edgar Sosa was rated very high and listed as a key component of Louisville becoming a national title challenger. The Cards had a very successful season, advancing to the Elite 8 and finishing just behind Georgetown in the conference standings, but it was a year of frustration for Sosa, the 6-foot-1 point guard from NYC.

After a freshman season where he averaged over 11 points per game and finished with an eye-opening 31 against Texas A&M in a second round NCAA Tournament loss, much was expected from Sosa in 2007-2008. However, Sosa never seemed to grasp the point guard position the way coach Rick Pitino demanded from him and ultimately, his numbers slid significantly, along with his playing time. Sosa averaged just 7.6 points a game and 1.8 assists as he shared the point guard position with Andre McGee.

This season, indications are once again a shared point guard role for Sosa. However, if the light turns on in his junior season under coach Pitino, Sosa could very well become the floor general this team needs and in doing so, being the driving force behind a big season for the Cards.

Finding a reliable point guard will drive the college basketball odds of Louisville into one of the favorite positions to compete for a national title. Sosa has the tools and potential and the NBE Basketball Report staffers still believe that potential can be realized.

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BIG EAST RECRUITING UPDATE: LOUISVILLE

November 3, 2008

VERBAL COMMITMENT ALERT: Justin Martin, 6'7, F from Indianapolis (IN)


Projected 2009-2010 Roster


Seniors: Edgar Sosa (G), Jerry Smith (G), Earl Clark (G/F), Reginald Delk (G)
Juniors: George Goode (F), Preston Knowles (G)
Sophomores: Samardo Samuels (BF/C), Terrence Jennings (C), Kyle Kuric (G/F), Jared Swopshire (SF)
Freshmen: Mike Marra (G), Rakeem Buckles (F), Peyton Siva (PG), Stephan Van Treese (PF)
2010 Commitment: Josh Langford (SF), Jeremy Tyler (PF/C), Justin Martin (F)


The recruiting machine that is Rick Pitino and Louisville continues to roll on as the Cards pick up their third commitment in the class of 2010 as Lawrence North forward Justin Martin Picks Louisville (Louisville Courier-Journal), joining Josh Langford and Jeremy Tyler as verbal commitments.

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Rick Pitino continues to stay well ahead of the game on the recruiting trail as the Louisville coach has now added a trio of 2010 commitments from Justin Martin, Jeremy Tyler and Josh Langford to the four verbals already secured for the class of 2009. Martin is a highly regarded 6-foot-7 forward out of the Indianapolis power program Lawrence North High School. Martin is a teammate of UL 2009 commitment Stephan Van Treese at Lawrence North. Martin made the early commitment, picking the Cards over Xavier. Martin has yet to play a varsity basketball game, playing on the JV last season. Martin is highly long and athletic and uses that to score inside and out.

Tyler, a highly touted 6-foot-9 manchild surprisingly ends his commitment early on and chooses the Cards over UCLA, Memphis, Arizona and others. Tyler made a trip to Louisville in late August and the San Diego high school star made a verbal commitment to the Cards early in October as he prepares for his junior season of high school. Tyler is a recruit considered to be comparable to current UL frosh Samardo Samuels, so the Pitino freight train on the recruiting trail rolls along and that justifies the college basketball odds listing Louisville among the favorites in the Big East year in and year out under coach Pitino.

Josh Langford of J.O. Johnson High School of Huntsville (AL) was the first to make the pledge to the Cardinals for the class of 2010. Louisville staff members have been very visible at his AAU games this summer during the open evaluation periods for the Alabama Lasers. Recently, i95ballerz.com had a very good story as Hard Work, Skill Building Nettes Langford his Dream Offer from the Cards.

As for the class of 2009, for the longest time it was widely considered that Stephan Van Treese would end up as part of Tom Crean's 2009 class at Indiana. However, things never came together and now Van Treese will take his talents across state lines to Kentucky and suit up for Louisville.

Van Treese had been recruited at times by some of the elite schools of college basketball, including the Hoosiers, UCLA, Ohio State, Michigan State, Kansas and Purdue. Van Treese will play tough in the paint and hit the boards. He is a very solid big man that will play his role for coach Pitino at Louisville.

Back in May coach Pitino picked up his third commitment from the class of 2009 when Peyton Siva out of Seattle (WA) made the Cardinals his college choice. Siva has long been considered Louisville's to lose on the recruiting trail after a visit this past season for their game with Georgetown. In the end, Louisville did not lose and scored a very good commitment from their point guard of the future.

Siva is an extremely quick and lightning fast point guard with the ball in his hands. He is also an above-average perimeter shooter who can also explode at the rim with a dunk when the time is right. As he matures, his decision making continues to improve and he always seems to be calm and cool on the floor, a trait that is a must for the most successful point guards in the game.

Siva and Van Treese join previous 2009 commitments Rakeem Buckles and Mike Marra. Buckles is a wiry and raw forward prospect who is just touching the tip of the iceberg when it comes to his potential. At 6'8, he has explosive athletic ability that you see in an NBA small forward, however his game is still transitioning from a skinny big man to the wing and is a process that is just beginning. However, Louisville head coach Rick Pitino definitely believes it is a project worth undertaking as he aggressively courted the Miami Pace junior and landed an early verbal commitment from Buckles in February. Local Miami and West Virginia were also closely monitoring his progress, but Louisville easily took the most attention in Buckles.

Mike Marra, a 6'5 native of Smithfield (RI), was the first of Pitino's 2009 commitments. Marra is an athletic shooter for Northfield (Mass.) Mount Hermon School. According to his coach, John Carroll, Marra averaged nearly 28 points per game and has hit 55% from 3-pt range over an 11 game stretch late last season. Marra was also considering Providence, Massachusetts, Gonzaga, Wake Forest and Michigan, but after coach Rick Pitino came to watch him play last winter, Marra decided to end the process early and commit to the Cards, who had been his leader for some time. Marra visited Louisville and Freedom Hall in December and they have been on his mind ever since.


We will continue to monitor the UL recruiting developments as they happen as Rick Pitino continues to position the Cards among the elite to keep an eye on for March Madness.

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