NCAA Basketball: 10 best players from state of New Jersey of last decade

10. Naji Marshall – Xavier

A 6’7 forward from Atlantic City, Marshall was a top 60 prospect form the class of 2017. A four-star recruit, he ranked among the best small forwards in his year after starring in high school in Maryland and Virginia. Marshall committed to Xavier, spending three seasons across two coaching tenures, while participating in the tail end of recent success for the Musketeers.

Marshall became a starter halfway through his freshman campaign, helping Xavier to an impressive 29-win season and Big East regular season title. He averaged greater than 14 points and 6 rebounds per game in each of his next two seasons, settling nicely into a starring role for the Musketeers. During the program’s NIT run during his sophomore season, he had a 20-point, 21-rebound performance against Xavier and set career highs with 31 points and 5 steals in a rivalry win over Cincinnati as a junior.

Marshall was honored by the Big East for each of his three collegiate seasons, first as All-Freshman and then twice as All-Big East, including First Team honors as a junior. He put up impressive scoring and rebounding numbers and was certainly one of the league’s best forwards in the back end of his career. He left school after those three seasons and has been a member of the New Orleans Pelicans for parts of the last two seasons.