Q&A WITH LOUISVILLE RECRUIT MIKE MARRA

By Pat Stevens

Pat Stevens (PS) -What’s the Mike Marra story…

Mike Marra (MM) -Freshman year in Rhode Island I was a JV player. That summer I ended up working hard and made varsity and then junior year is when I started excelling and knew I had to make the move. I ended up repeating junior year at NMH which was the best decision I made and had a breakout type season, that’s when I got my offers. This year was a little tougher with teams keying on me but both years at Northfield Mount Hermon (Mass.) went really well.

PS -What was the summer workout like between your freshman and sophomore year…

MM -That summer I went to a six week training camp in Providence. I was shooting on the gun and running sprints 5 days a week for 4 hours. I was getting up 1,000 shots a day and working on ball-handling and it was really beneficial.

PS -Best game this past year…

MM -Against South Kent in our last game of the year was my best of the game the year. I had 33 points and seven three-pointers.

PS -Playing back home in Rhode Island at the big tournaments…

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MM -At the tournament at URI, that was just an off weekend for me. Couple guys got things going our way for us so I wasn’t really disappointed. But it was tough to come home and play. But earlier in the year in November at Bryant College, I came out and had 25 points and six or seven rebounds in one game so that went well.

PS -Memorable game from earlier in school…

MM -Last year against St. Thomas More with Devin Ebanks, we went back and forth a few times and I was like 10-11 from 3 and ended up with 38 points and he had 34.

PS -Memorable game from circuit…

MM -Two summers ago in New Jersey it was my breakout game, I hit 11 threes against the New York Panthers. Richard (Pitino) was in the stands and Ohio State and Michigan happened to be there. I was just lucky that they were there.

PS -Top Shooters that you like…

MM -JJ Reddick, I used to watch all the time. Recently, I’m a big Celtics fan, I’ve been watching Eddie House and he’s great coming off screens. And of course Ray Allen is always money. Everyone loves his shot.

PS -Playing uptempo at NMH…

MM -I think it helps out a lot. We get up and down and get up a lot of shots. I look forward to getting up just as many at Louisville and hopefully I can just be on the court.

PS -Thoughts on classmates…

MM -I roomed with Peyton (Siva) this weekend and Rakeem (Buckles) was there on my visit. I love the way they play. Peyton really has a desire for the game and he just loves to play and Rakeem works just as hard.

PS -Arrival to campus…

MM -I get there June 2nd and I’m hoping to gain some weight and get in there and shoot.

PS -Major…

MM -I’m not sure but I think I’m going to start with Business but I’m pretty open.

PS -Anything unique in recruiting process…

MM -Talking to Rick, he seemed the most genuine. I really believed everything they said and they just really stood out to me.

PS -Feeling when offered…

MM -It was kind of unexpected. Richard offered me in person. He was there just to watch one of our open gyms. It was a little unreal, I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t see it coming.

PS -Feeling when committed…

MM -I told him I want to be a Cardinal. He was really excited and said he had a bottle of Cristal he was going to pop open that Billy Donovan gave him.

PS -If not Louisville, then where…

MM -I really considered Providence but the coaching staff was just too uncertain at the time. PC, Wake Forest and Miami were the schools I liked but Louisville set themselves apart. I did visit UMass, URI, and Syracuse for the elite camp.

PS -What’s it take to get a Louisville caliber offer…

MM -It takes a lot of hard work, no matter how tired you are. I used to play both 16s and 17s at the same time in AAU, playing six games in a day. You have to play your hardest whenever you’re on the court.

PS -Big East memories…

MM -When I was younger I really didn’t watch a lot of college basketball. But of course this year was crazy with Louisville winning the Big East outright in the regular season and conference tournament.

PS -On prep players headed Big East…

MM -Omari Lawrence - A beast. That’s all I can say about him. He finishes everything around the rim.

Jamaal Coombs and Alex Oriakhi – They’re good kids. They’re going to do really well there. We’ve had some battles the past few years. I like the way they play.