MarShon Brooks
Sport: Basketball
Born: January 26, 1989
Town: Long Branch
MarShon S. Brooks was born January 26, 1989 in Long Branch. He lived in New Jersey until 1995, when Darlyn Brooks moved MarShon and his sister Naya to Tucker, Georgia. He came back to Jersey each summer to stay with his grandmother and attended camp at Monmouth University.
MarShon was big and athletic as a boy. He was drawn to basketball, where he used his quickness and agility to become superb shooter. His favorite team was the Lakers and his favorite player Kobe Bryan. MarShon enrolled at Tucker High School in 2003 and quickly became the star of the Tigers varsity. He was a talented scorer and solid defensive player. As a senior in 2006–07 he averaged 20 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Tucker went 31–2 and won the Class-AAAA state championship.
MarShon was heavily recruited. He chose Providence College. His first three seasons for the Friars were nothing to get excited about. He was the team’s most talented player, which drew double- and triple-teams at times. It wore MarShon out, and contributed to his so-so defensive effort. After averaging 14.2 points as a junior forward, MarShon spent the summer training in Keyport and came back bigger, faster, stronger and more focused for his senior year. He broke Eric Murdock’s a Big East record of 48 points when he hit for 52 in a loss to Notre Dame—in the process tying the school mark established by Marvin Barnes. On the same night, Big East rival DePaul scored just 51 points as a team.
MarShon finished the 2010–11 season second in the nation with 24.6 points per game, and was the only player in Division I to average 24 points and 7 rebounds a game. He was First-Team All-Big East and a Third-Team All-American. His 468 points in the regular season broke Donyell Marshall’s record of 462 for UConn in 1993–94.
MarShon expected to go early in the first round, but did not come off the board until the Celtics chose him with the 25th pick. He was immediately traded “home” to the New jersey Nets. He averaged 12.6 points per game in 2011–12 and was named All-Rookie Second Team. In 2012–13. The Nets moved to Brooklyn and MarShon served as Joe Johnson’s backup.
In the summer of 2013, MarShon was a key piece in the mega-trade that brought Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to Brooklyn. The Celtics were the first of three NBA teams he’d play for in 2013–14. He was traded to the Warriors in January and then to the Lakers in February.
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