Until I became allergic to grass. The allergy could be treated with medication, but it left him fatigued and unable to play soccer. So by the age of 8 or her 9th year, Marion started playing basketball as her main sport.
“My mom and dad played basketball and wanted me to play basketball, and I fell in love with basketball,” Marion said.
The transition seems to have gone pretty well for Marion.Coach is growing as a freshman this season. steve forbes And Demon Deacons. He is third on the team in rebounds with 33 and plays over 18 minutes per game.
“The main element is defense,” Marion said of the key to playing a big role as a freshman. “Every time you go into a game, try to play hard defense. Coaches tell you to not turn the ball over, just rebound, play hard, talk the talk. This is the secret to continuing to do so.”
“I think the key to rebounding is obviously you have to be smart, but it’s more about hustling and playing smart. Most of the time it’s about seeing the ball and predicting where it’s going to fall. You have to know how to do it.” Try to get a good position. ”
Marion began to emerge as the Danish team’s leading scorer at the U18 FIBA Division B European Championship in the summer of 2022, and began to attract attention from scouts and college coaches. His mother encouraged him to finish school in Denmark and then seek opportunities to play college basketball in the United States.At that time, his assistant coach at Wake Forest matt woodley I contacted Marion.
“I didn’t even know what Wake Forest was until he contacted me,” Marion said. “I didn’t know anything about divisions or conferences, so when Woodley wrote to me, I was like, is this guy for real? Then I looked into Wake Forest, and the ACC, Tim Duncan, Chris Paul, I saw all the other members.” So, this is real. ” And I was like, oh, this is real. ”
It didn’t take long for Marion to have a Zoom meeting with the Wake Forest staff and then for Woodley to visit Marion.
“He said he was flying to Denmark and we just couldn’t believe it,” Marion said. “I talked to him once and then he just showed up to a game in Denmark and we beat the reigning champions of that country and then of course set up a time with Forbes and went on a visit and everything. And That’s how I promised.” Here. “
Marion has been a force on the boards and on defense, but has been working on developing his all-around game since arriving on campus in the summer.
“We’ve mainly focused on game development, but of course we’ve also focused on academics,” he said. “I’ve been working on my game every day with (Wake Forest assistant) Coach (Demetris) Nichols in the morning and doing more skill work and I just hope that translates into the game. But I feel like it’s been a pretty good six months.”
“I think the main thing that has improved is definitely my shot. I try to work on my shot every day. It’s all the little details that I’m not used to, so that’s good for me.”
Adjusting to the pace of the college game and being away from home has been going well for Marion so far.
“It’s definitely the pace and conditioning that’s needed,” he said of the biggest change. He said, “I’m not used to every practice being this hard, but I feel like it was good in terms of how hard I could work throughout the game and how long I could work hard.
“But I’m adjusting pretty well. I’m not homesick because I feel like family. I have a lot of family here and they reach out to me really well.” “It’s been eight years since I played against Georgia. My grandmother stopped by the Charleston Classic, so I felt safe here.”
The Deeks have lost some hard-fought games on the road against teams from strong conferences, but are currently on a roll with wins over both Florida and Rutgers at home.
“We knew we could beat those teams, but we had to find the last piece of the puzzle. Obviously, that was rebounding and playing hard throughout the game and playing for each other,” Marion said. ” he said. “We have a whole new team from last year, so just finding out what each player likes and how to move the ball properly will help a lot in those games.
“I feel like I’m coming into a role on a team where I know I need to rebound and hustle. We have a lot of talented players on offense right now, so we have more roles open next year.” I’m definitely going to be more aggressive on the team if we do that.” Cut off the dribble, drive more, shoot more and just do what it takes to win.”
With conference play just around the corner, Marion believes the Demon Deacons are poised to put together a great season.
“If everyone stays healthy and plays well, we can have everything,” he said. “We have the rim protection, we have the rebounding, we have the shooting, we have the drive, we have the communication ability. The potential of this team is definitely going to go into the tournament and do some good things there.”