Marshall Henderson made his way to the NCAA Tournament, even though the rest of his Ole Miss Rebels did not. He made the trip up to Memphis to watch the South Regional semifinals and root for Florida. Remember when Marshall Henderson mockingly did the ‘Gator Chomp’ at Florida after the Rebels beat UF in last season’s SEC tournament title game? The irony there was just delicious… The flamboyant and controversial (he’s got a bit of a checkered past, we’ll get into that in a minute) shooting guard saw his very prolific college basketball career end recently. Now we’ll see if he has any chance at a pro career.
Henderson was not invited to the NBA Draft combine, I have not seen his name in any NBA mock drafts. He probably won’t be drafted. However, Marshall Henderson is competing in “The Basketball Tournament,” an open, single-elimination, winner-take-all basketball tournament for $500,000 in Philadelphia June 6th-8th, with a tourney final on June 28th.
Henderson is playing on the same team as Hakim Warrick, NBA veteran and co-star of Syracuse’s 2003 NCAA championship team.
Oh yeah, about Marshall Henderson’s reputation. He was placed on probation for trying to buy $800 (around 60 grams) worth of marijuana with counterfeit money right before he graduated high school. Following up on that, while still on probation, he failed a drug test, testing positive for alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine. And that’s a 3! For Marshall Henderson!
He failed to fulfill his community requirement, and then served 25 days in jail. In 2013, Henderson was caught in possession of marijuana and cocaine and was suspended for the first three games of his senior year. So with him jumping on the Gators bandwagon, embrace him as one of your own, Florida! Cuz if there’s one thing that state is known for, it’s criminal behavior.
During a Big Ten Network show last season, Analyst Tim Doyle referred to Marshall Henderson as “being like Marshall Mathers.” Granted Doyle only did that so that he could sound hip and cool, and it was a too easy applause line because they share the same first name, but….Slim Shady is known for criminal behavior as well. So, it’s not what you want to have on your resume when you’re trying to catch on with a NBA team.
Also, you should check out The Basketball Tournament as it has some names you know playing in it: Josh Shelby, Lance Williams, Rashad McCants, Edgar Sosa, Lenzelle Smith Jr., Scottie Reynolds, Dante Cunningham and the 2009 Villanova Final Four Team.
Paul M. Banks owns The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. He’s also a frequent guest on national talk radio. Banks, a former contributor to NBC Chicago and the Washington Times, has been featured in numerous outlets including NFL.com, Forbes and the History Channel. President Barack Obama follows him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)