The soul of Wofford's SoCon title

A warm spring evening. A cold winter night. Tragedy and triumph intertwined.

The contrasting emotions gripping the heart of everyone ever associated with Wofford College basketball could not have been more opposite, but the two are forever linked.

The drumbeat of Facebook posts last April 22 stirred disbelief, then tears. Eric Marshall, a 2007 Wofford graduate and one of the Terriers' most popular players, collapsed and died while playing basketball at Greenbrier High School, his alma mater in Augusta, Ga.

Only 24. Married to his Wofford sweetheart, the former Tanya George. Two little sons.

Eric Marshall doesn't belong in the obituary part of the Wofford alumni magazine. He belonged somewhere in the small but raucous crowd last week at Benjamin Johnson Arena in Spartanburg as the Terriers wrapped up their very first Southern Conference championship with victories over the College of Charleston and The Citadel.

Head coach Mike Young celebrated, and cried.

'E-Marsh'

Wofford, a school with only 1,450 students, enters the SoCon Tournament in Charlotte as a No. 1 seed with a first-round bye but has never advanced beyond the semifinals since joining the conference in 1997.

"We didn't want to share the league championship with Charleston. We wanted to win it outright," Young said this week. "We played well against (The Citadel) on Saturday. To win 10 straight to finish the year -- holy cow, I don't know how to act. I think we've lost one time in 2010. I might

just quit while we're ahead, be done with it and let (assistant) Coach (Paul) Harrison take this bunch to Charlotte.

"Life's been pretty good for the Terriers here for this last little bit."

They dedicated the season to Marshall.

Wofford players wore a black and gold "E-Marsh" patch on their jerseys as they compiled a 23-8 record, including non-conference victories over South Carolina and Georgia. Marshall's photo and bio appear on the first page of the 2009-2010 Wofford basketball media guide.

Richmond County Coroner Grover Tuten said an enlarged heart was the probable cause of death.

"I know that people around the league admired him and appreciated him," said Young, in his eighth season as Wofford head coach. "He was just a great fellow, and he lived the way he played. He went at it. He was just such a wonderful fellow. Just the best guy."

Marshall was set to become an assistant basketball coach at Greenbrier High School.

Oh, the potential.

Full blast

Basketball know-how: He averaged 10.4 points over his 83 games at Wofford.

Toughness: Marshall suffered a serious knee injury against Clemson as a junior and wrecked the other knee against the College of Charleston as a senior.

Smarts: He graduated with a Finance degree.

Character: Marshall was leadership coordinator for Souljahs for Christ while at Wofford and was working to form a nonprofit ministry to reach Augusta kids through basketball (contributions can be made to the Eric Marshall Memorial Fund via any Augusta-area Wachovia Bank location).

Young said he has mentioned Marshall while talking to his team "from time to time" this season, by far the most successful year in Wofford basketball history.

"I've always said to them, 'Whatever you do, do it full blast,' " Young said. "That's who he was. And that's the greatest honor that we could give him, to do it hard. The team has done that."

Reach Gene Sapakoff at gsapakoff@postandcourier.com.