Marsh Is Leader Both On, Off Basketball Court

By Gretchen Hunt
Originally Published in The Herald
January 16, 1998

Micah Marsh begins his fourth season as a starter for the Indians, he is leading the Tribe into what could be his greatest year on the basketball team.

"We're excited about it," head coach Dickey Nutt said. "We've got a good group of guys. They're playing pretty well right now."

Marsh, a senior guard of Alcoa, Tenn., said it really has not sunk in yet that he is playing in his final season with the Indians.

"It seems like just yesterday I was walking on to campus as a freshman," Marsh said.

Along with Marsh, Jabari Myles, a senior forward of Decatur, Ga., is playing in his fourth season with the Tribe. The two began on the team together as freshmen during the 1994-95 school year.

"Me and Jabari, we went through some hard times in our first couple of years," Marsh said. "We just got better and better each year."

Marsh said he is expecting great things from the team this year.

"I think it's all or nothing for me and Jabari, but I think it's that way for everybody," he said. "We're not going to be satisfied with anything less than winning the conference title."

Nutt said Marsh is one of the main reasons he is optimistic about the team's season.

"He is starting to shoot the ball really well," he said. "Certainly he is one of the main reasons we're having some success early on."

ESPN aired the Tribe's first Sun Belt Conference game, which was against South Alabama, on Dec. 28.

Since then, the Tribe has enjoyed a winning streak that has left them 4-0 in the conference.

Marsh said one of the neatest things about the ESPN game was that he could call friends who were not in town and tell them to watch the game on television.

But he said aside from being on TV, the atmosphere at the game was positive as well.

"You know it's always great to play a good team in front of a great crowd," he said.

According to Nutt, Marsh is more than just a basketball player.

"He brings such leadership by action," Nutt said. "He's a coach on the floor."

In addition to having great abilities on the floor, Nutt said Marsh has a strong character off the court.

"He's the kind of kid that you would love your son to grow up to be."

Marsh will graduate in May with a degree in accounting, but he said he is still unsure of exactly what he wants to do after graduation.

"Hopefully some day I'll be a CPA," he said. "But I'm also interested in coaching. I'm pretty open right now."

Marsh said his first two seasons with the Indians were kind of down years, with ASU finishing 4-11 in the 1994-95 season and 7-6 in the 1995-96 season, but he has always been proud to be part of the ASU basketball program.

No matter how Marsh's last season with the Indians ends, he has already won one prize--the respect of his coach.

"I'm very proud of him," Nutt said. "And I'm proud that good guys do win."