Roy Marble is getting an early birthday present with his induction tonight, 10 days before he turns 39. Marble will join seven other individuals and five teams at the Hall’s 26th annual induction ceremony at the Genesys Banquet Center.
“This is a special honor for me, something I never even thought about,” said Marble who resides in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he works in marketing. “And what makes it even more special is that I’m going in with one of my favorite teams, Central High’s state championship team. I patterned my game after so many of those guys. Eric Turner was the epitome of a point guard. I wanted to pass the ball the way he did, control the boards like Marty Embry, and shoot the ball like Mark Harris.
“I was lucky to have come along during the core of great players out of Flint. Glen Rice (Northwestern), ‘T.’ (Terence) Greene (Central). I’m honored to be included among those great players.” From 1981 through 1985, Flint schools captured five consecutive state Class A titles in boys basketball. In 1985, Marble helped lead Beecher to the Class B crown, while Northwestern captured the Class A title.
Marble was thrilled to hear the news of his induction, although he was worried for a moment. “I knew something was wrong because there were too many calls coming in from my mom,” said Marble. “I was concerned because I kept seeing 810, 810, 810 (area code). Of course, as it turned out, it was the news about going into the Hall of Fame. It was a tremendous rush, but then a sigh of relief because I’m happy everyone is OK.”
A career in basketball that included a stint in the National Basketball Association, was the last thing on Marble’s mind when he began playing as a child.
“It started out as fun, as a pastime,” said Marble. “It was just a way to have fun and play with the guys in the neighborhood. I had no idea it would turn out to what it did.”
Marble said his parents (Bertie and Roy Sr.) stressed education, and the Beecher family followed that up. “Basketball made us hold our heads up, but we had academic success, too,” he said. “I’m going into the Hall of Fame as a representative of the teachers, coaches, and my teammates.”
Marble credits Mose Lacy, who was his coach at Beecher, for helping him develop as an athlete and a person. “I was lucky to have Mose Lacy catch me at an early age,” he said. “He saw talent in me that I didn’t see. He taught me nothing but the purity of basketball. I learned winning and teamwork was far more important that individual success.”
Marble recalled the time Lacy benched him because he didn’t like the way he was playing in front of George Raveling, then the Iowa coach, who was there on a recruiting visit.
“I only played about nine minutes or so,” Marble said. “It was a hard lesson, but a great lesson, because you’ve got to put the team first. Coach Lacy groomed me. He taught me in my success that I should always want to be hugging someone else.”
In Marble, Lacy knew he had a superior athlete, who at 6foot 6, had ability, athleticism, desire, and intelligence. “Roy was a very talented player,” Lacy said. “He was big and mobile and a very coachable kid. He was always a very hard worker and a very unselfish player. He could’ve set all kinds of scoring records, but I didn’t play him much more than half a game a lot of times (because of so many lopsided victories). But Roy didn’t care about individual records, anyway.”
Marble was an All-Stater and McDonald’s All-American at Beecher. He signed with Iowa (1986-89) and went on to become one of the school’s all-time greats. His 2,116 points ranks first on lowa’s career scoring list.
Among Marble’s fondest memories competing in college was going up against his friend and rival, Rice, who played at Michigan. “Those were some great battles,” he said. “In the Big Ten, people looked at it like Michigan versus Iowa, but on the floor it was Roy versus Glen.”
After Marble’s collegiate career ended, he was a first-round draft pick (23rd overall) of the Atlanta Hawks in 1989. During his four-year career he had stops in Houston, Detroit and Denver.
When his NBA career ended, he was ready for the business world. “I was never concerned after basketball because I had that piece of paper (degree in communications and commercial advertising),” Marble said. “I may have gotten in the door because of my name as a basketball player, but what gave me the nod is because I have a degree.”
“My degree means more to me than all my accolades as a basketball player, because now I’m almost a 39-year-old man. I have to be ready to go out and compete in the real world, and climb that corporate ladder. “My experiences as a competitor in basketball, and my education from Beecher High School and the University of Iowa have prepared me for that.”
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