Herd aims to be best defensive team in C-USA

HUNTINGTON -- Donnie Jones listed three areas of importance for his second season as head coach of the Marshall men's team.

• No. 1: Depth. Marshall has more talented players than it's had in years.

"We have legitimately eight guys who can play," Jones said.

• No. 2: 3-Point Shooting. Marshall made only 31.6 percent of its 3-point shots last season.

"We were 11th in the league in 3-point shooting," Jones said. "I can't say we didn't have good shots, we just didn't make them."

• No. 3. Defense. Marshall allowed 65.7 points per game, third in Conference USA.

"We have to be the best defensive team in this league," Jones said.

Expectations are rising at Marshall, where Jones guided the Thundering Herd out of a string of five consecutive losing seasons to a 16-14 record.

The Herd is led by 6-foot-6, 230-pound senior guard/forward Markel Humphrey, an All C-USA third team selection the past two seasons, but he is out until probably the Nov. 16 season opener because of a stress fracture in his left ankle.

Humphrey averaged 11.7 points and 5.8 rebounds last season.

"I can't think about me," said Humphrey, who offers support from the sideline during practices. "If I'm down the whole team is going to be down."

Other returning starters are Tirrell Baines and Tyler Wilkerson.

Baines is a 6-6 sophomore forward who muscled up to 220 pounds in the offseason. He made the C-USA All-Freshman Team, averaging 11.5 points and 5.8 rebounds.

The 6-8, 240-pound Wilkerson, a junior, was one of last season's pleasant surprises. He averaged 9.2 points and a team-high 5.9 rebounds with six double-double games.

Senior guard Darryl Merthie scored 5.9 points a game and is challenging for a starting role.

Adam Williams, a senior guard from St. Albans, W.Va., forfeited his scholarship for this year to make room for recruits. The son of Marshall Athletic Hall of Fame member Tex Williams logged 8.5 minutes per game, mostly as a defensive stopper.

Marshall also has three talented NCAA Division I transfers who sat out last season.

Chris Lutz is a shooter deluxe. The 6-3 guard from Bedford, N.H., transferred from Purdue where he was the 2006-07 3-point shooting percentage leader in the Big Ten at 47.2 percent.

Octavius "Tay" Spann had limited playing time in two seasons at Georgetown. Spann is a 6-7, 225-pound junior from College Park, Ga. His brother, Emmanuel, is a wide receiver for the Herd football team.

Lutz and Spann both have NCAA tournament playing experience.

Then there's Brandon Powell, who might be the "X" factor this season.

Powell knows the system better than anyone, after spending his freshman season at Florida where Jones was an assistant coach. The 6-3 guard from Memphis, Tenn., appeared in 23 games for the 2007 national champions. He is a sophomore with three years of eligibility.

"One good thing about our new players is that three of them were here last year," Jones said. "They got to practice every day, which made our guys better."

Some of the Marshall freshman will play a lot.

Damier Pitts, who prepped on a national championship team at Hargrave Military Academy, is competing for a starting job at point guard. He averaged 26 points in three national prep school tournament games at Madison Square Garden.

Pitts was ranked as the No. 8 point guard and No. 96 overall prospect in the Class of 2008 by Scout.com.

Dago Pena, shooting guard with good size (6-6, 200) was a late addition out of Charlotte High School in Punta Gorda, Fla. The native of the Dominican Republic averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds as a Florida Class 5A all-state first team player.

Pena finished runner-up to Marshall classmate Shaquille Johnson in Florida Class 5A player of the year voting.

Johnson actually won the Class 5A player of the year award twice at Robert E. Lee High School in Jacksonville. He scored 2,205 career points with averages of 24.8 points, 8.7 rebounds, 7.6 assists and 3.5 steals as a senior.

Kore White is the fourth freshman. He's 6-8 and 230 pounds out of Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the Class 5A state champion. White averaged a double-double (15 points, 11 rebounds) with eight blocked shots per game in his all-state senior season.

"We brought in kids that expect to win," Jones said.

Center Marcus Goode is already a fan favorite because of his 6-10, 315-pound body, and has loads of potential. Goode was academically ineligible as a freshman and watched from the stands. He had averages of 22 points, 17 rebounds and seven blocked shots in his final prep season at The Patterson School in North Carolina.

Goode has a nice shooting touch, too. He made a pair of 3-pointers in the Thundering Herd Madness preseason event.

The four freshmen and Goode were on teams with a combined record of 139-17 in the last seasons they played.

Cam Miller of Wheelersburg, Ohio, is a 6-8 freshman transfer from Western Carolina sitting out the season.

File photo/The Herald-Dispatch

Marshall head coach Donnie Jones.