On Friday night I made the trek five minute drive to North Allegheny HS for the WPIAL basketball playoff game between McKeesport and Upper St. Clair. Why go? The answer is not too easy to miss on the court — 6′ 11″ center Zeke Marshall. There’s tall people and then there’s tall people; he’s tall. According to Scout.com, Marshall (currently a junior, class of 2009, 3 stars) has an offer from Pitt as well as Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Akron, with interest from a few other schools. If the kid has an offer to play at Pitt and he’s right in my backyard, I figured I’d take a look at him.

Of course, I am in no way a scout. I have, however, enough common sense and seen enough basketball to make a few observations on basic skills. First off, as soon as you see him you’re going to notice a lack of real bulk and muscle. He’s tall but also skinny. Offense and defense are two different worlds for Marshall.

On offense, he has trouble really getting good position and lacks the strength to make a strong move to the basket. With the ball, he looks clumsy and sometimes forgets he’s so much taller than his opponent — where he could hold the ball up high and get an uncontested shot, he brings the ball low and makes himself smaller.

Defensively, he’s solid. He blocks shots well and his timing and coordination seems improved when going for the blocks. He can grab rebounds and has better hands than Aaron Gray but nowhere as good as DeJuan Blair. Again, he doesn’t have enough strength to completely hold off other big players and he’s not quick enough to close out on a shooter, even on short shots from the foul line.

He’s definitely a project for Jamie Dixon if he ends up at Pitt and I’m not sure how well he can stack up with very good big men in the Big East. Not to be harsh on a high school kid, just doing my best as a creepy guy who monitors every move a recruit makes. In reality, isn’t that what high school scouts are?