Hartford Basketball: In-depth look at Hawks senior forward Hunter Marks

Why you should know Hunter Marks

The Administration at the University of Hartford has decided that it was in the best interest of the school and their athletic department to file the paperwork to drop down to the Division 3 ranks. The transition is expected to be completed by 2025.

The decision was a pretty confusing one considering that Hartford had just made the NCAA tournament and many of the established programs took it as a slap in the face from the dean of students. In reality, none of us know the money situation that Hartford is going through, and the transition is said to save the school upwards of 9 million per year.

Now that that is out of the way, Marks returns along with all the other eligible Hawks to take another shot at the NCAA tournament. The big man is extremely important to what Coach Gallagher and the Hawks are trying to do on a nightly basis. Sure the numbers for Mark’s don’t jump off the page as he has only averaged 8.7 points to go with 5.1 rebounds over his career but it’s what he does on the defensive side of the ball as well as his work inside the paint on the offensive end.

Marks is extremely skilled by the basket and he made well over half his shots from inside the arc. His numbers are not great overall but that is brought down by a dreadful year shooting the ball from deep. The senior is a capable shooter from deep and Hartford’s offense is going to have him take three-pointers. If he makes those at a better than 30% clip the Hawks will win a lot of games. Either way, the big man is going to be a huge factor for Hartford, and he is going to have an impact on the success or failure of the season for Hartford and coach Gallagher.