Damon Stoudamire Has High Expectations For Peyton Marshall

Therre are big expectations on Atlatna native, Peyton Marshall.

Feb 1, 2025; Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Missouri Tigers center Peyton Marshall (21) reacts after a dunk against the Mississippi State Bulldogs during the second half at Humphrey Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Wesley Hale-Imagn Images | Wesley Hale-Imagn Images

Peyton Marshall decided to come back home after a one-year stint with the Missouri Tigers. Head Coach Damon Stoudamire shared at Tuesday's press conference that having Peyton Marshall this year will take some pressure off Baye Ndongo, allowing him to play his natural position as a power forward. That is something that the Yellow Jackets sorely missed last season, and why I think Marshall will be an impact player.

Marshall transfers in as a three-star transfer with a .88 rating, according to 247, as part of the four-player transfer class. Marshall played in 22 games for the Tigers last season, averaging 4.4 minutes per game, 1.0 points, 1.1 rebounds, and 0.3 blocks per game. A critique of Marshall was his weight, weighing 300 pounds; however, Coach Stoudamire shared that he had lost weight, and he was going to see the court regardless.

Marshall will make an impact

"Big P was gone play but slim P gone play too," he said "It didn't matter he was going to play regardless -, P is a big strong kid and he moves well for a big guy - I look forward to him playing a big role for us this season," he added.

Nov 8, 2024; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers center Peyton Marshall (21) warms up against the Howard Bison prior to a game at Mizzou Arena. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Here's what our own Najeh Wilkins had to say about what Marshall will bring this year's squad.

"So what does he bring to the Yellow Jackets? He brings a much-needed paint presence and an enforcer. Marshall is an elite rim protector and a good finisher around the rim. An area where the Yellow Jackets struggled was its interior defense, especially when Baye Ndongo wasn’t in the game. They bring in another player who can play a similar role to Ndongo and a player who can get easy buckets in the interior. Marshall is also a really good rebounder on both ends of the floor. He can control the glass defensively, and on offense, he can create second-chance opportunities with put-back slams or dishing it out to the perimeter."

An elite passer as a big man is something many likely would have overlooked about Peyton's game before the season, until Stoudamire brought it to the attention of the media, shedding light on his passing ability, even comparing him to a former teammate, Oliver Miller. Playing nine years in the NBA, Miller averaged 2.2 assists per game.

"One guy I haven't talked about and its crazy to say this, he's probably one of the best passers on the team is Peyton Marshall; "P' can really pass the ball," he said.

Stoudamire also voiced his delight that this team will have a lot more ball handlers this year, ranging from the guards to the post. He even went as far as to say that there won't be a dominant ball handler this year

"We got way more people that can make plays, we'll play out of the post a little more, we have really good bigs. So there's just a lot of different dynamics that we have that we didn't have in the past, and we got versatility, so the ball will be distributed evenly," said Stoudamire.

Georgia Tech needs its transfer class to be full of impact players and Marshall could end up being the best.