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

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

player for the

San Jose State Spartans The San Jose State Spartans are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent San José State University. SJSU sports teams compete in the Mountain West Conference at the NCAA Division I level, with football competing in the Football Bowl S ...

of the

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States, participating in NCAA Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on Ja ...

. He previously played for the

Maryland Terrapins The Maryland Terrapins, commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 19 men's and women's college sports in the United States, varsity intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, College Park in National Collegiate ...

and the

Oregon State Beavers The Oregon State Beavers are the sport, athletic teams that represent Oregon State University, located in Corvallis, Oregon. The Beavers compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Division I ...

Early life

Marial was born in

Rumbek Rumbek () is the capital of Lakes State in the Bahr el Ghazal region of South Sudan. Location Rumbek is approximately by road northwest of Juba, the capital and largest city in the country. Its coordinates are and its elevation is abov ...

, a city in what is now known as

South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...

. 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 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

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 Basketball Without Borders is a basketball instructional camp organized by the NBA in conjunction with FIBA. It presents itself as a “basketball development and community outreach program that unites young basketball players to promote the sport ...

camp in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, 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 (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

. 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 and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

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

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

and ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', for his extraordinary size after featuring in a

viral The word ''Viral'' means "relating to viruses" (small infectious agents). It may also refer to: Viral behavior, or virality Memetic behavior likened that of a virus, for example: * Viral marketing, the use of existing social networks to spre ...

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 the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

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

Cheshire Academy Cheshire Academy is a co-educational college preparatory school located in Cheshire, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1794 as the Episcopal Academy of Connecticut, it is the eleventh oldest boarding school in the United States. In 1917, th ...

Cheshire, Connecticut Cheshire ( ), is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. At the time of the 2020 census, the population of Cheshire was 28,733. The town is part of the Naugatuck Valley Planning Region. The center of population of Connecticut i ...

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

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...

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 IMG Academy is a University-preparatory school, preparatory boarding school and sports training destination in Bradenton, Florida, United States. The organization is set across over 600 acres (243 ha) and features programs consisting of sport ca ...

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, up from 49,546 at the 2010 census. It is a pri ...

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

(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 Metropolitan Area, Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is the List of municipalities in Arizona, fourth-most populous city in Arizona ...

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 division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

programs, including

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

, and

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

. 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 college recruiting, athletic recruitment in college football and college basketball, basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount Global, Paramount. The website hosts a large ...

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 U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. He was attracted to Maryland because he liked its coaching staff and players, and due to the improvement

Bruno Fernando Bruno Afonso David Fernandes, also known as Bruno Fernando (born August 15, 1998), is an Angolan professional basketball player for Real Madrid Baloncesto, Real Madrid of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. He played college basketball for ...

, 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 Social group, 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 ...

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 Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees through all 11 of the universit ...

. After his senior season, Marial transferred to

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, 12 , , 0 , , 5.4 , , .500 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.6 , , .2 , , .1 , , .4 , , .8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 18 , , 1 , , 6.2 , , .370 , , .125 , , .500 , , 1.1 , , .1 , , .1 , , .6 , , 1.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 9 , , 8 , , 13.1 , , .318 , , .333 , , 1.000 , , 2.2 , , .2 , , .2 , , 1.2 , , 2.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2023–24 , style="text-align:left;",

, 31 , , 9 , , 11.7 , , .366 , , .444 , , .800 , , 2.4 , , .2 , , .2 , , 1.0 , , 2.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 70 , , 18 , , 9.4 , , .369 , , .304 , , .667 , , 1.9 , , .2 , , .1 , , .8 , , 1.9

Personal life

Marial is a cousin of NBA free agent

Thon Maker Thon Marial Maker (born 25 February 1997) is a South Sudanese-Australian professional basketball player for the Al Riyadi Club Beirut of the Lebanese Basketball Federation. He attended high school at Orangeville District Secondary School (Onta ...

. He is a member of the

Dinka The Dinka people () are a Nilotic ethnic group native to South Sudan. The Dinka mostly live along the Nile, from Mangalla-Bor to Renk, in the region of Bahr el Ghazal, Upper Nile (two out of three provinces that were formerly part of southern ...

ethnic group. Marial speaks

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, and English.

References

External links

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