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Feature On Marcus Green
 
Since his arrival on the Purdue campus as a freshman in 2005, junior guard Marcus Green has been has been a key contributor on and off the court.

 
Junior guard Marcus Green takes the ball to the hoop in Mackey Arena.
 
Junior guard Marcus Green takes the ball to the hoop in Mackey Arena.
 
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Nov. 30, 2007

By David Brienza, Purdue sports information student assistant

Since his arrival on the Purdue campus as a freshman in 2005, junior guard Marcus Green has been has been a key contributor on and off the court.

On the court, Green is the most experienced player on the Purdue roster. In addition to playing in every game this season, Green saw court time in all 62 of the Boilermakers' games his first two seasons. Off the court, he provides his teammates with a great deal of comic relief, according to sophomore guard Keaton Grant.

"Green is just always saying something to crack people up," Grant said. "He likes to say lines from movies and claim they're his. People will tell him, Marcus you didn't come up with that, that's from a movie, but he likes to claim it as his own."

When asked about his penchant for taking other people's lines Green laughed and said that just isn't the case.

"I don't need to steal lines from movies, I'm an original. I've got my own style, I don't steal anybody else's style," Green said.

" I just have my own style, my own Chicago flavor. I kind of brought it to West Lafayette and everybody thinks it's from a movie. I'm from Chicago. I have a good personality, I'm a people person. When I came to Purdue I brought my own Chicago flavor to West Lafayette."

All joking aside, Green has been a big part of the Boilermakers ever since he arrived in West Lafayette.

In 2005-06, his freshman season, the Boilermakers were plagued by injuries and Green was called on to contribute right off the bat. Green answered the call and averaged 5.5 points per game and shot 87.1 percent from the free throw line.

Green's biggest game as a Boilermaker came during that season as he torched No. 22 Michigan for 23 points in the Purdue's 84-70 win over the Wolverines on Feb. 11, 2006. Green still remembers that game, in which he shot 9-of-13 from the field and 4-of-6 from three-point range, fondly.

 

 

"I'd have to say that game is probably my favorite personal memory in Mackey," Green said. "The crowd was great that night. We had a great atmosphere. To be able to play that well and beat Michigan when they were ranked, it was great. I really shot the ball well that night."

As a sophomore, Green was once again an important asset for Purdue. He averaged 4.1 points and 2.7 rebounds per game and helped the Boilers go 22-12 and reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Green came up big when the Boilers needed him to last season. In Purdue's win over Iowa in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament, a victory that sealed their ride to the NCAA Tournament, Green recorded nine points and two steals.

This season, on a team with five freshman and two sophomores Purdue coach Matt Painter said Green's experience is something the Boilermakers will look to use.

" I wish we had more guys with three years experience," Painter said. "I think that's very important, to have a guy with that kind of experience.

"He has done a good job rebounding the ball for us. Sometimes he plays against a bigger three and that's a good matchup for him. Offensively, he has to keep doing a good job of knocking down the open shot."

Despite having two full seasons of basketball at Purdue under his belt, Grant said that Green managed to provide the team with a funny moment during preseason conditioning.

"The guards have to run a mile in 5:30," Grant explained. "Before the run, Green laughed and said `you don't have to be in shape to run the mile. I'll get the time no problem'. I told him, `Marcus, you have to be in shape to get it done'. Well, we went out there to run the mile and he didn't get the time."

Green offered his own spin on Grant's statement, saying that he got the time, it just took a little bit more than one try.

"You have to be in shape to run that mile," Green said laughing. "The first time, I ran it in like 6:10. It took me a couple more tries, but I got the time. I didn't give up after I realized I didn't get the time, I just realized that maybe I underestimated that mile."

Whether on the court providing steady veteran play or off the court providing his team with his own Chicago flavor Green has proven that he does have his own style.

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