Chol Beny Marial (born 1 November 1999) is a South Sudanese

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

player for the

Oregon State Beavers The Oregon State Beavers are the athletic teams that represent Oregon State University, located in Corvallis, Oregon. The Beavers compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I ( Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for c ...

of the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

. He previously played for the Maryland Terrapins.

Early life

Marial was born in Rumbek, a city in what is now known as

South Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the C ...

. He grew up away from areas of war and famine, which were prevalent across the country. Marial played

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

from age five but was soon held back by his exceptional height and started playing basketball in 2013. In the same year, he was discovered at a Basketball Without Borders camp in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

, South Africa. His cousin, in 2014, helped him join an all-star team at the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) Basketball Showcase in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

. In 2014, with the help of his cousin who had lived in Florida, Marial moved to the United States to complete middle school at West Oaks Academy in

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

, where he played varsity basketball. In June 2015, he drew attention from national media outlets, including

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

and ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', for his extraordinary size after featuring in a

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highlight video.

High school career

Entering his freshman year, Marial transferred to

Arlington Country Day School Arlington Country Day School (ACDS) was a private school in Jacksonville, Florida. A non-sectarian coeducational school, it offered a K-12 education and enrolled over 400 students a year. It was notable for its successful boys' basketball program. ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

, following his former head coach at West Oaks Academy, Shaun Wiseman. In November, he moved to

Cheshire Academy Cheshire Academy is a selective, co-educational college preparatory school located in Cheshire, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1794 as the Episcopal Academy of Connecticut, it is currently the eleventh oldest boarding school in the United ...

in Cheshire, Connecticut because of its superior academics. In August 2016, Marial played in

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Nations, averaging 7.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game while shooting 72.7 percent from the field. On 28 July 2017, heading into his junior year, he transferred to IMG Academy in

Bradenton, Florida Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698. History Late 18th and early 19th centuries ...

. His season was limited to 17 games because of foot and shin injuries. Marial was sidelined with a

hairline fracture A stress fracture is a fatigue-induced bone fracture caused by repeated stress over time. Instead of resulting from a single severe impact, stress fractures are the result of accumulated injury from repeated submaximal loading, such as running or ...

in his shin while playing

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...

(AAU) basketball in the summer of 2018. For his senior year, he joined AZ Compass Preparatory School in

Chandler, Arizona Chandler is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and a suburb in the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). It is bordered to the north and west by Tempe, to the north by Mesa, to the west by Phoenix, to the ...

Recruiting

As early as his freshman year in high school, Marial was receiving offers from major

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

programs, including

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

, and

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

. In January 2017, he emerged as one of the best players in the 2019 class.

ranked him third overall, and

247Sports 247Sports is an American network of websites that focus mainly on athletic recruitment in college football and basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount. The website hosts a large network of team-specific subsites, with each subsite b ...

rated him as the second-best center in his class. In the following years, however, he plummeted down rankings, partly because he struggled with injuries and changed high schools several times. On 6 May 2019, Marial committed to play college basketball for

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. He was attracted to Maryland because he liked its coaching staff and players, and due to the improvement Bruno Fernando, who had a similar background as Marial, displayed with the program. When Marial finished high school, he was considered a four-star recruit by ESPN and

Rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

and a three-star recruit by

College career

Marial missed the first 12 games of his freshman season after undergoing surgery to repair stress fractures in both legs. He played sparingly during his two years at Maryland. After his sophomore season, Marial transferred to Oregon State.

Career statistics

College

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Personal life

Marial is a cousin of NBA free agent Thon Maker. He is a member of the Dinka ethnic group. Marial speaks Dinka,

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

, and English.

References

External links

Oregon State Beavers bioMaryland Terrapins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marial, Chol Maryland Terrapins men's basketball players Centers (basketball) Living people 1999 births Cheshire Academy alumni