John Thomas Marshall (born January 6, 1931) is an American former

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player and coach. He graduated from Mount Juliet High School in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee. He was a star at

Western Kentucky University Western Kentucky University is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It was founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a quarter-century earlier. It operates regional campuses in Glasgow, Elizabethtow ...

in the 1950s, where he was a two-time All-American. His number 41 is one of only six retired at Western Kentucky. He was named to the OVC Half-Century Team and the OVC 40th Anniversary team. A 6'4" forward, he was drafted by the

Rochester Royals The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

with the seventh pick of the

1954 NBA draft The 1954 NBA draft was the eighth annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 24, 1954, before the 1954–55 season. In this draft, nine NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball pla ...

. After a promising rookie season, he was drafted into the Army and missed the 1955–56 season. In a four-year NBA career, he played for the Royals (in both Rochester and Cincinnati), as well as for the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at L ...

. In his final year as a player (1958–59) he served as a

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

; then coached the

Cincinnati Royals The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

for one additional season (1959–60) after retiring from playing. The Royals would eventually become the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

many years after his retirement.

References

External links

Basketball-Reference.com: Tom Marshall (as player)

1931 births Living people All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Tennessee Basketball players from Tennessee Cincinnati Royals head coaches Detroit Pistons players People from Mount Juliet, Tennessee Player-coaches Rochester Royals draft picks Rochester Royals players Shooting guards Small forwards Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball players {{US-basketball-coach-stub