Marcus Mann (basketball)

Marcus Lashaun Mann (born December 19, 1973) is an American Southern Baptist minister who is best known for his time as a college basketball player for Mississippi Valley State University.

Marcus Mann
Personal information
Born (1973-12-19) December 19, 1973
Carthage, Mississippi
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight245 lb (111 kg)
Career information
High schoolSouth Leake
(Walnut Grove, Mississippi)
College
NBA draft1996 / Round: 2 / Pick: 40th overall
Selected by the Golden State Warriors
PositionPower forward
Career highlights and awards

Early life

Mann was born in Carthage, Mississippi to parents Annie Mann Gray and Jim Banks, Jr. and was a very active member in his Baptist church while growing up.[1] Mann attended South Leake High School where he was noted for both his athletic and academic abilities – he graduated as his class's salutatorian and was named a top five basketball player in the state of Mississippi.[1]

Basketball career

Community college

Mann was awarded a scholarship to play basketball at East Central Community College. During his two-year career he averaged approximately 21 points and 12 rebounds per game.[2] Mann then signed a full athletic scholarship to play his remaining two seasons of NCAA eligibility at Mississippi Valley State University.[1]

Later in life, Mann would also get inducted into ECCC's Academic and Athletic Halls of Fame.[1]

Mississippi Valley State

During the 1994–95 and 1995–96 seasons, Mann's two at MVSU, he appeared in 56 total games while averaging 19.3 points and 12.7 rebounds per game.[2] During his senior season he guided the Delta Devils to a school record 22–7 record, a share of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) regular season title, the SWAC Tournament championship and MVSU's third-ever berth into the NCAA Division I Tournament.[1] He averaged 21.7 points and 13.6 rebounds per game that season, and his rebounding ability was good enough to lead Division I.[3] Mann was also named the SWAC Player of the Year and was the first player from MVSU to earn that honor.

Later life

In June 1996, one month after graduating magna cum laude, the Golden State Warriors selected him as the 11th pick in the second round (40th overall) in the NBA Draft.[4] Between the NBA Draft and the first days of the Warriors' training camp, Mann's desire to play basketball faded away.[1] He felt that he had a higher calling in life, which was working with children as a Baptist minister.[1] On October 31, the day before the Warriors were set to open their season against the Los Angeles Clippers, Mann told the organization that he did not want to play professional basketball and that it would be unfair to both himself and the team to keep going.[3]

Golden State released him, and Mann was no longer an NBA player. He sacrificed, minimally, the $220,000 rookie salary along with the glamour of an NBA lifestyle to pursue what he called his "calling."[3][1]

gollark: Not really.
gollark: It could be done automatically, but that'd take a significant amount of effort.
gollark: I think it's because 2Gs are no longer bred.
gollark: It would be great if TJ09 at least bothered to mention when stuff was changed.
gollark: Impressive ignoritude.

References
  1. "Reverend Marcus Mann Biography". sylvarenachurch.com. 2011. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
  2. DeCaro, S. A. (2006). "Marcus Mann". The Draft Review. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
  3. Killion, Ann (November 3, 1997). "Mann Trades Pro Basketball for Pulpit". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
  4. "1996 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2011. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
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