Like all basketball-playing middle schoolers, Henry Marshall envisioned playing college basketball.
His focus and goal at that young age, however, was to play in the Ivy League.
Fast-forward four years and the St. Viator basketball star may have one-upped the Ivy League. He will continue his basketball career at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology).
Rankings matter to Marshall — just not the player rankings. MIT was, after all, recently ranked No. 2 by The World University Rankings, behind only the University of Oxford in England, while ranking No. 1 in the world by QS World University Rankings.
“My grades were good and I was focused on school,” Marshall says of his eighth-grade days at Immanuel Lutheran School in Palatine. “Even during high school as I was developing as a player, I just kept a list in my head of the most academically prestigious schools, because I knew after basketball was over that I wanted to set myself up as best as I could for the future.”
Marshall is an overlooked success story in the senior class. Thanks to Marshall’s production and leadership, St. Viator has quietly won 22 games as the 6-2 guard has averaged just under 18 points a game. He shoots 43 percent from three while adding four rebounds, 2.8 assists and two steals a game.
“Wonderful young man and an outstanding representative of our program in the classroom, on the court and in the community,” St. Viator coach Michael O’Keefe said. “He treats people with the utmost respect, his work ethic is tremendous, and he has always been determined to succeed.”
The journey to this point has been pretty remarkable.
During his sophomore year at St. Viator, Marshall’s father suffered a serious stroke. As a result, Marshall and his brother had to move to the city to live with their mother. He said he thought about attending a high-academic high school in the city, but he remained committed to St. Viator.
But staying committed to the private school in Arlington Heights has meant life changes and an arduous schedule for any teenager.
So now after practice is over, Marshall takes a Metra train from Arlington Heights to Chicago. He then jumps on the Chicago “L” Blue Line that takes him to the Montrose bus line for the final leg of a commute that takes roughly one hour and 45 minutes.
“Henry has never let any obstacle get in his way, and that says a lot about who he is and how he was raised,” O’Keefe said.
Marshall says the abnormal routine and long commute have likely toughened him, saying it’s “reinforced discipline.” The wise-beyond-his-years teen states he sees the bigger picture of how his journey will impact him in the future.
“I think it’s done wonders for my character,” Marshall says of the school commute. “It might not be pleasant at the time, and you might not see the immediate results, but over the course of time it’s going to make me a better student, person and player. It’s going to help me in so many ways that may not help me right now, but it will help me and be super noticeable in the future of how it helped me.”