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Robert Morris University Athletics

Marcquise Reed

Men's Basketball By Paul Meyer

Meyer On Morris: The Campaign Trail

Photo Credit: Kyle Gorcey (RMU Sentry Media)

Moon Township, Pa. – Marcquise Reed this weekend is scheduled to make his final road campaign stops in his bid to win an important Northeast Conference election that would result in Robert Morris making NEC history.
 
Reed, a 6'3'' freshman guard, seems a lock to make the All-NEC Rookie Team, which will be announced in about two weeks. However, he could win a bigger honor -- NEC Rookie of the Year.
 
If he does, Robert Morris would have its third Rookie of the Year winner, more than any school in the NEC since the award changed from Newcomer of the Year to Rookie of the Year in the 1999-2000 season.
 
St. Francis University, LIU Brooklyn, Central Connecticut State and Robert Morris each have had two Rookie of the Year winners. Former RMU guards Jeremy Chappell and Karon Abraham won in 2006 and 2010, respectively.
 
Though history is against him, Reed could wind up being named to an All-NEC team, too.
 
"Forget making the all-rookie team. He may be all-conference,'' Bryant coach Tim O'Shea said three weeks ago after Reed scored 20 points in a game against the Bulldogs.
 
"He'll be rookie of the year,'' Central Connecticut State coach Howie Dickenman said just last Saturday after Reed went for 18 points against the Blue Devils. "I wouldn't be surprised if he makes first team (All-NEC). It wouldn't surprise me at all. The only reason he might not is because he's only a freshman, but I think he's one of the top half-dozen players in the league.''
 
The voting by the league's coaches for the All-NEC teams tends to favor upperclassmen. The only NEC Rookie of the Year winner who also made an All-NEC team in the same season was Darshan Luckey of St. Francis University. He was an All-NEC First Team pick in 2003.
 
However, no matter what happens with the distribution of the NEC awards, there's no question Reed has had a sensational first season for the Colonials.
 
Overall, he leads Robert Morris in scoring with an average of 15.0 points a game. He's shooting 52.7 percent from the field, including 43.4 percent from beyond the arc, and he's a 75.5 percent free throw shooter. What's more, his 391 points, with at least five games remaining, rank third among all RMU freshmen. Only Abraham (477) and Chappell (410) scored more as a rookie.
 
He's won an RMU-record six NEC Rookie of the Week awards, and his eight 20-plus point games, one of which he produced against Thursday night opponent Sacred Heart, matches Colonial great Myron Walker's program record for most 20-point games by a freshman.
 
In addition, he seems to have become the team's go-to scorer with the game on the line. In games last weekend against LIU Brooklyn and CCSU, the final play was designed for Reed to take the shot.
 
"That builds a lot of confidence for me, you know, only being a freshman,'' Reed said. "It's a lot of pressure on me, but as the year goes on it's getting easier.''
 
Against NEC opposition, Reed has been even more prolific.
 
His 16.6 points per game average ranks fourth in the league behind seniors Marcus Burton of Wagner, Jalen Cannon of St. Francis Brooklyn and Dyami Starks of Bryant. All three are solid candidates to be voted to the All-NEC First Team. Reed is fourth in the NEC in field goal percentage (.547) and second in free throw percentage (.865), and he is 13-of-25 from three-point range.
 
"He's tremendous, unbelievable,'' said Bryant's O'Shea, whose Bulldogs will see Reed again Saturday. "He's a big-time player.''
 
"He plays like a senior,'' Dickenman said. "He penetrates. He scores. He makes free throws. He doesn't get rattled. He plays within himself. Defensively, he gets steals. He anticipates well, and he has a great first step -- very quick. He's like a real all-around player. He's a terrific player.''
 
And by all accounts a more productive player as a freshman than anybody expected.
 
"Much more,'' said Van Whitfield, Reed's coach last season at Capitol Christian Academy in Landover, Md. "I cannot tell you how many conversations we've had (among his staff this winter) that end with, 'We knew he would be good, but we had no idea he'd be this good.'''
 
"I think we envisioned him being a guy who would score for us,'' RMU coach Andrew Toole said, "(but) I don't know if we ever imagined him getting 16 a game. But that's what he's doing, and it's pretty special. I think the consistency he's had as a freshman has been pretty remarkable.''
 
Reed has scored in double figures in 17 of his last 19 games.
 
"We knew he could score,'' said RMU assistant coach Joe Gallo, who handled much of the recruiting work on Reed. "But probably from a freshman maybe you'd expect eight, nine (points) a game -- not 15, 16, 17.''
 
Then again, Reed scoring isn't a stunner.
 
"He's always done it,'' Gallo said.
 
Reed as a senior at Capitol Christian averaged 31.2 points a game. He scored 40 or more in five games.
 
Someone asked Whitfield if perhaps Reed shot more last season looking to score in an effort to attract recruiters.
 
"It was completely the counter opposite of that,'' Whitfield said. "Typically, he was the best player on the court. It's easy to deduce that he was our go-to guy, but he was completely unselfish. He'd defer to his teammates, which spoke to his very high basketball IQ.''
 
"He had an unbelievable knack to score but also a good feel for the game,'' Gallo said. "As much as he scored, he wasn't selfish by any means.''
 
So to suggest that Reed just scored because he felt like he needed to would be wrong.
 
"That could be true in some cases,'' RMU assistant Robby Pridgen said. "Not in his case. He's just a natural scorer. It's something he just does really well. To do that, especially in that (District of Columbia) area, means you can really score the basketball. His runners, floaters -- those are tough shots to make. He spent a lot of time and work to be able to make those shots.''
 
"He wasn't stressed about recruiting,'' Whitfield said. "He enjoyed the ride.''
 
The Colonials needed to sign a scorer because they knew they'd lose Karvel Anderson, who last season as a senior was voted the NEC Player of the Year.
 
Toole and his staff honed in on Reed because of his scoring ability.
 
And for other reasons.
 
"His size,'' Toole said. "His ability to shoot the ball off the bounce, to get into the lane and to finish in traffic. A million different things on the offensive side of the floor. I thought he could play either guard spot, and I thought he would have a chance to have a really good freshman year.''
 
"He scored in ways that (were) college-ready shots,'' Gallo said.
 
Reed visited Robert Morris April 18. He committed to the Colonials the next day.
 
It did not take Reed long to show he could be a special player at Robert Morris. In his second college game, he scored 24 points at North Carolina.
 
A week later, the Colonials played at Georgetown in sort of a homecoming game for Reed. Whitfield and others were in attendance.
 
"We literally took the entire team to the game,'' he said.
 
Reed, not yet a starter for RMU, scored nine points off the bench in that game.
 
"He's a big-time scorer,'' Hoya coach John Thompson III said. "He is one of those guys that is going to get six points just by being on the court. It looks like he is going to keep doing what he did in high school, which was put the ball in the basket.''
 
Which he has. Frequently.
 
What's impressive about Reed's offensive game is his ability to get and make the mid-range jumper.
 
"That's how you score in college, to have that mid-range game,'' Gallo said. "If you're a really good mid-range shooter or scorer like that, that's how you get buckets in college. The thing that stands out the most about him is how high his shooting percentage is for the type of shots he takes. He shoots 55 percent from the floor shooting floaters and pull-up jumpers.''
 
"It's unusual for a lot of guards now,'' Toole said. "I think the game is three-point shots and dunks. The in-between stuff is not valued as much as it used to be, but it can really make you a dangerous player because people are pretty good at running you off the three-point line and protecting the rim. The guys who can score in between those two areas I think are really effective.''
 
And, it seems, strong candidates to win awards.


 
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Players Mentioned

Karvel Anderson

#15 Karvel Anderson

G
6' 2"
Senior
Sr.
Marcquise Reed

#2 Marcquise Reed

G
6' 3"
Freshman
Fr.

Players Mentioned

Karvel Anderson

#15 Karvel Anderson

6' 2"
Senior
Sr.
G
Marcquise Reed

#2 Marcquise Reed

6' 3"
Freshman
Fr.
G