By: Mike Brown, News Correspondent
When Dinko Marshavelski of the men’s basketball team scored 23 points against James Madison University (JMU) Jan. 3, no one was more surprised than Marshavelski himself.
“I didn’t know I was going to score that many points,” he said. “I’ve never scored so many points. I was surprised – everybody was.”
The towering 6-foot-11-inch sophomore forward’s breakout performance in his first career start has earned him Huntington News Player of the Week honors.
“I thought he made the most of a great opportunity,” head coach Bill Coen said. “He’s a talented offensive player and I think he got off to a quick start down at James Madison. He made his first couple shots on offense and played an inspired game from that point forward. He really did a nice job for us scoring around the basket and stepping out and making some jump shots.”
Marshavelski’s journey to Division I basketball has been far from normal. Coming to Northeastern all the way from Bulgaria, Marshavelski had to adapt his game to match the style of American basketball.
“The pace of the game is quicker [and] it’s harder to rebound and do anything else,” Marshavelski said. “I was struggling last year but I’m getting used to it.”
The Plovdiv, Bulgaria native is a psychology major and attended high school at Wilbraham & Monson Academy in Wilbraham, Mass. where he was named his team’s MVP.
“There’s the language barrier, there’s the cultural barrier, then there’s the style of play barrier,” Coen said. “European-style is different from American college basketball. [Marshavelski] is a prototypical European big-man – he’s got great skills and he’s adjusting to the physicality of American basketball.”
Coen has been noticing Marshavelski’s gradual improvement and he has started Marshavelski in the team’s last three games.
“We thought at the beginning of the year that he could be a big part of what we’re trying to do going forward,” Coen said. “I think he’s made good steps in that direction.”
In Northeastern’s 75-69 loss against JMU, Marshavelski shot 53 percent from the field and hit all five of his free throw attempts.
However, Marshavelski believes that individual performance is not as important as winning.
“It doesn’t matter how many points you score,” Marshavelski said. “I mean, I’m trying to help the team. We’re not doing that well, so I really want to win games.”
Despite the Huskies’ 4-11 record, Marshavelski said he thinks the team is improving.
“I think Vinny [Lima] will be back [soon], he’s going to be able to help us,” he said. “We’re getting used to playing with less guys. We’ve got to stay out of foul trouble, that’s the hardest part … I think we’re getting better.”
Coen said he is optimistic that Marshavelski will continue to improve over the remainder of the season.
“I think he’s understanding now just how hard he needs to work and compete in order to be successful,” Coen said. “He’s still young, he’s only a sophomore, and he’s got plenty of great upside ahead of him.”
