UMBC men’s basketball senior guard Marcus Banks Jr. scored a career-high 35 points against NJIT on Feb. 22, pouring in nine 3-pointers — one off the single-game program record — and setting a new single-season school record for threes in the process.
Banks scored 17 consecutive points for UMBC to end the first half, giving the Retrievers a 46-42 lead at the break. His heater included five 3-pointers, with his reactions after each showing that he was feeling it that day — despite fighting an illness.
The 6-foot-3, 195-pound guard finished 11 of 20 from the field and 9 of 15 from 3-point range.
“It’s just within the flow of the game,” Banks said. “I’m not really thinking about how [many] I’m making. Obviously I’m celebrating after it goes in. I’m out there open-minded. I’m not thinking about nothing, I’m just hooping. It just comes down to my work that I put in so it [shows] on the court.”
Banks has a pretty stroke, a soft touch and range out to the parking lot. UMBC head coach Jim Ferry gives his lead guard a green light to pull the trigger as long as the shots come within the framework of the offense. Fortunately for Banks, Ferry runs an up-tempo system that emphasizes ball and player movement to spring open 3-point shooters.
Despite sitting at 13-16 overall and 5-9 in the America East, the Retrievers are second in the nine-team league in scoring (80.8 points per game), tops in 3-point shooting (38.2 percent) and third in assists (14.9 per game). They’re third in the conference in adjusted offensive efficiency, according to KenPom, a college hoops analytics site.
Banks is a big part of all of that, leading UMBC in field goal attempts (366) and 3-point attempts (228). He has made 93 threes this year, tops in program history, with two regular-season games and at least one playoff game remaining this season.
“A lot of it has to do with trust, but a lot of it is the time. He puts in the time and the work,” Ferry said. “… Is he going to take a couple of bad shots in a game? Yeah, but I think you have to allow that. If I’m going to instill confidence in these guys, I’ve got to allow them to take certain shots. I can’t be yanking them if it’s a bad shot, because then he doesn’t have the ability to even go for a night like this. It’s the confidence in the work that he puts in and the maturity over time.”
It took some time for Banks to find a home following his time at Bethel High School in his hometown of Hampton, Va. He spent a year apiece at Fork Union Military Academy (Virginia), Western Carolina University and Odessa College (Texas) before transferring to UMBC ahead of the 2023-24 season.
Banks averaged 15.1 points on 39.1 percent shooting from the field and 35.6 percent shooting from 3-point range a year ago. His time in Catonsville has allowed him to grow as a player, as those numbers are up to 15.9, 43.7 and 40.8 this year.
When Banks heats up, his coach knows to feed him the ball — just like against NJIT. That eventually opened things up for senior guards Bryce Johnson (29 points) and Marlon Short (19).
“Yes, I knew at times, ‘OK, we’ve got to find him. I know he’s hot,'” Ferry said. “So we talked about finding him … whether it’s a set here or there that we run to make sure he gets a touch of the basketball. But [today] was really unique too because he had it going, they started locking on him and then Bryce started getting it going and then Marlon was playing fantastic.”
Playing at UMBC has also given Banks a chance to play in front of his family, and that may very well continue. Though Banks has played four seasons of college ball — none of which were impacted by COVID — he has another year of eligibility because one of those seasons came at the junior college level.
That means his mother Geny and father Marcus might make more road trips from Virginia beyond this season.
“That’s a blessing, especially being here for the two years,” Banks said. “I’m not far from home, but they’re able to come up and watch me play. It’s just a blessing, really. I can’t explain how grateful I am for them and the love that they give and the support — and not [only] from there but from the team here at UMBC. The culture here is just all love.”
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox