Just as it did in the spring, the coronavirus pandemic has left us without Marist sports during fall, with neither the MAAC nor PFL deciding it was safe enough to play games. Since the Red Foxes will not take the playing field, for the time being, let’s use our imagination to quench our thirst for Marist athletics.
Before MAAC sports shut down in the spring, I compiled a full NBA roster of (mostly) players with “red” or “fox” in their names. This time around, I picked players that share a name with a Marist building.
The building each player represents is in parentheses next to their name, followed by the player’s accomplishments and some facts about the buildings. Let’s begin with the starting lineup:
Guard: Isiah Thomas (Lowell Thomas Center)
The original Isiah Thomas runs the show for this squad. Thomas was a 12-time All-Star, two-time NBA champion, and the 1990 NBA Finals MVP. The Hall of Famer averaged 19.2 points and 9.3 assists in his career, all of which happened with the Detroit Pistons. He was also a coach and executive for multiple NBA teams, but we probably shouldn’t get into that.
Lowell Thomas passed away a month before Isiah’s NBA debut, but he left behind an incredible legacy. The Cripple Creek, Colorado native earned three college degrees and became a world-traveling newsman, author, and founder of Capital Cities Communication, which purchased ABC in 1985. The center named after him opened in 1987.
Guard: Pete Maravich (St. Peter’s)
Running the show alongside Thomas is a fellow Hall of Fame guard. “Pistol Pete” was one of the flashiest and most creative players basketball has ever seen. After becoming the only college player to surpass 3,300 career points, Maravich became a five-time NBA All-Star and the 1976-77 scoring leader. Armed with masterful playmaking and deadly accurate deep-range shooting, Maravich is an example of a player who was before his time.
The Saint Peter’s building sits across the sidewalk from the Lowell Thomas Center. Named after the school in Poughkeepsie where the Marist Brothers taught, it was built around 1865 and purchased by the Marist Brothers in 1908. The building served as living quarters for them until 1969. It now hosts the college’s Upward Bound program, which helps disadvantaged high schoolers in the Hudson Valley region go to college.
Forward: Adrian Dantley (Adrian Building)
Dantley, a Hall of Fame forward, shares his name with a Marist residence hall that was demolished 20 years ago.
During his 15-year career, Dantley earned six All-Star selections, two scoring titles, and the 1977 Rookie of the Year award. Over his seven best seasons, the 6-foot-5 small forward averaged 29.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 3.7 assists.
The Adrian Building, named after Adrian August, a Marist Brother and chemistry/music professor at Marist, served as a lounge for students and office for Admissions. The building was opened in 1957 and demolished in 2000 due to the construction of the James A. Cannavino Library.
Forward: Shawn Marion (Marian Hall)
Despite the minor difference in spelling, Shawn “The Matrix” Marion will represent Marian Hall.
Marion, a 6-foot-7 forward, made four All-Star teams, two All-NBA Third Teams, and won a championship on the 2011 Dallas Mavericks. He averaged 15.2 points and 8.7 rebounds over 16 seasons and was a key player for Steve Nash’s Phoenix Suns teams.
Marian Hall, raised in 1948, was originally a gym and is now a freshman residence area. Marian was originally the name for the college itself; Marian College became Marist College in 1960.
Center: Rasheed Wallace (Sheehan Hall)
Since there aren’t any NBA players named Sheehan, going with the “shee” sound was the closest thing I could get to a match. Therefore, NBA champion Rasheed Wallace is this team’s starting center.
Wallace was one of the key players on the championship-winning 2004 Detroit Pistons, a four-time All-Star, and the record holder for the most technical fouls in a single season with 41.
Named after Monsignor J.F. Sheehan, pastor of Poughkeepsie’s St. Peter’s Church, the college’s first residence hall opened in 1962. Sheehan Hall was the first Marist building whose construction was not done by the Marist Brothers.
The bench
The make-up of this team’s bench is a stark contrast to that of the All Red-or-Fox Team. While that squad had a plethora of big men, rejecting basketball’s evolution towards using smaller lineups, this one fully embraces the modern game by utilizing only one player over 6-foot-10 (Wallace).
Jamal Murray (Murray Student Center)
Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray represents the building named after Marist’s current president.
Murray has averaged 15.6 points and 3.7 assists through his first four years in the league. The Kentucky product is tearing it up in this year’s playoffs, averaging 28.9 points and 6.2 assists on 52.4 percent field goal shooting and 48.7 percent 3-point shooting.
In 2019, Dr. Dennis Murray returned to serve as President of Marist College; he first held the position from 1979 to 2016. During Murray’s time at the helm, Marist added a campus in Florence, Italy, expanded its campus by over 150 acres, and renovated nearly every building. The student center completed in 1965, nearly doubled in size after its 1994 renovation.
Although the San Antonio Spurs’ point guard Dejounte Murray provides a name closer to that of Dennis Murray, since their first names both start with a “D”, Jamal gets the nod for his outstanding performance in this year’s playoffs.
Lou Hudson (Hudson River)
Though the Hudson River is not a building (duh), it’s a fixture of the Marist campus. It also happens to share a name with a Hall of Fame shooting guard.
Hudson the player earned six All-Star selections and averaged 20.2 points on 48.9 percent field goal shooting over his 13-year career, four of which featured Maravich as a teammate.
The Hudson River gets its name from Henry Hudson, the Englishman who discovered the Hudson Valley region in 1609. Marist has built a walkway and a boathouse on the river’s coast.
Landry Shamet (Champagnat Hall)
The “sham” sound is the closest I could get for Champagnat Hall, so representing it is young sharpshooter Landry Shamet.
The Los Angeles Clippers’ second-year guard, drafted 26th overall in the 2018, is a top-notch 3-point shooter, averaging 2.1 made 3-pointers per game on 40.2 percent shooting from deep in his brief career.
Champagnat Hall is named after the founder of the Marist Brothers, Marcellin Champagnat. The French priest and saint founded the group in 1817 and the dormitory named in his honor is the tallest building on Marist’s campus.
Donyell Marshall (Donnelly Hall)
The NBA has not yet seen a Donnelly, so I had to move some letters around and kick out an “n”.
Marshall played in 15 NBA seasons and ended his career with averages of 11.7 points and 6.7 rebounds. He served as an assistant coach at George Washington University and is now in the same role at Rider University.
Donnelly Hall is named after Brother Nilus Donnelly. He directed the building’s construction – a job done entirely by volunteers who worked as teachers – which was finalized in 1962 and renovated in 1985. In the early days of the building, it was modified to serve partially as a dormitory that housed eight students.
Randy Foye (Foy Townhouses)
Just one letter off from having a perfect name match. So close.
Randy Foye with an “e” spent his 11-year NBA career with seven different teams. He was a respectable shooter from beyond the arc, averaging 4.0 3-pointers per game and making 36.6 percent of them.
The townhouses are named after Dr. Richard Linus Foy, who became the youngest college president when he took the reigns at Marist at age 28 in 1958. He served the role until 1979 and the townhouse units named after him were constructed three months later.
Kirk Hinrich (The Kirk House)
The little house that resides next to the Foy Townhouses shares a name with point guard Kirk Hinrich.
The bulk of Hinrich’s career came with the Chicago Bulls. Over 13 seasons, the point guard averaged 10.9 points and 4.8 assists. He earned a spot on the All-Defensive Second Team in 2007.
The Kirk House was originally the home of Daniel Kirk, a former professor and Chairman of the Psychology Department. After Kirk willed the home to the college, it served – and still does – as the Marist College Catholic Chaplain’s residence.
Raymond Felton (Fulton Townhouses)
A similar-sounding name is the best I can do to match a player to the upperclassmen residence areas.
Point guard Raymond Felton played 14 NBA seasons for seven teams, averaging 11.2 points and 5.2 assists.
Marist borrowed the Fulton moniker, which it uses for two different townhouse areas, from the neighboring Fulton Street.
Larry Steele (Steel Plant Studio)
One again, I must resort to tacking on an “e” to the name of a Marist building. The rest of the names from here on out are identical, though. I promise.
Steele played nine seasons in the NBA, all of which were with the Portland Trail Blazers. He led the league in steals with 2.7 per game in the first season the league began tracking the stat in the 1973-74 season. He won a championship three seasons later.
The Steel Plant Studio served as a temporary library during the construction of the James A. Cannavino Library. It now houses several art studios and the Marist College Art Gallery.
Leo Barnhorst (Leo Hall)
Barnhorst was a two-time All-Star during the NBA’s infancy, averaging 13.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 3.9 assists for the now-extinct Indianapolis Olympians. His career lasted just five seasons, though.
Named in honor of Brother Leo Brouiletter, the residence hall opened in 1963. The hall’s sixth floor was the first place female students lived when they were finally allowed to reside on campus.
Bob McCann (James J. McCann Recreation Center)
Bob McCann was a fringe NBA player in the 1990s. The forward’s eight-year professional basketball career included five NBA seasons, three in China, and one in France. He played for a different team in each NBA season, collectively averaging 4.2 points per game.
The recently renovated McCann Center is named after James McCann, a Poughkeepsie native who found great success and fortune in the stock market. His foundation, the James J. McCann Charitable Trust, provided funding for the center’s construction.
LeBron James or James Harden seem like the obvious choice here but I wanted to honor the names unique to Marist. And also, who calls it the James Arena anyway?
Two-way contracts
For non-NBA fans: two-way contracts are deals that teams sign to players who are close to making the roster.
Darrin Hancock (Hancock Center)
Forward Darrin Hancock’s stop in the NBA was brief, spread across four teams in three seasons. He played just 10.5 minutes per game and averaged 3.5 points.
The Hancock Center, constructed in 2011, gets its name from Marist trustee Ellen Hancock. It houses the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion and a Starbucks, which is the best one on campus in this writer’s opinion.
Jerome Dyson (Dyson Center)
Not to be outdone, Jerome Dyson’s stop in the NBA barely lasted a full week. The point guard only played in nine games, averaging 7.4 points for the 2011-12 New Orleans Hornets.
The Dyson Center is named in honor of philanthropist and businessman Charles H. Dyson. It was completed in 1990 and Marist is planning to renovate it, though plans to do so were delayed in October.
With all due respect to Jerome, one of the worst buildings on campus should be represented by the least successful player on this squad.
Playstyle
This team has so many tantalizing offensive weapons. Thomas, Maravich, Dantley, and Hudson were all high-level scorers. Wallace, Murray, Marion, and Hinrich all serve as more-than-adequate backup options.
There are enough skilled scorers to create space for spot-up shooters, mainly Shamet and Foye but also Maravich, Marion, Murray, and Hinrich when they don’t have the ball.
Anchored by Thomas, Hinrich, and Marion, this team is pretty decent on defense. Still, the offense is this team’s strength, both in the half-court and the fast break.
Edited by Jonathan Kinane