American Southern Baptist minister (born 1973)
Marcus Lashaun Mann
(born December 19, 1973) is an American former
college basketball
player who attended
Mississippi Valley State University
. He became a
Southern Baptist
minister
.
Early life
[
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]
Mann was born in
Carthage, Mississippi
, to parents Annie Mann Gray and Jim Banks, Jr. and was a very active member in his Baptist church while growing up.
[1]
Mann attended
South Leake High School
where he was noted for both his athletic and academic abilities ? he graduated as his class's
salutatorian
and was named a top five basketball player in the state of Mississippi.
[1]
Basketball career
[
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Mann was awarded a
scholarship
to play basketball at
East Central Community College
. During his two-year career he averaged approximately 21 points and 12 rebounds per game.
[2]
Mann then signed a full athletic scholarship to play his remaining two seasons of
NCAA
eligibility at
Mississippi Valley State University
.
[1]
Later in life, Mann would also get inducted into ECCC's Academic and Athletic Halls of Fame.
[1]
Mississippi Valley State
[
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]
During the 1994?95 and 1995?96 seasons, Mann's two at MVSU, he appeared in 56 total games while averaging 19.3 points and 12.7 rebounds per game.
[2]
During his
senior
season he guided the
Delta Devils
to a school record 22?7 record, a share of the
Southwestern Athletic Conference
(SWAC) regular season title, the SWAC Tournament championship and MVSU's third-ever berth into the
NCAA Division I Tournament
.
[1]
He averaged 21.7 points and 13.6 rebounds per game that season, and his rebounding ability was good enough to
lead Division I
.
[3]
Mann was also named the
SWAC Player of the Year
and was the first player from MVSU to earn that honor.
Later life
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]
In June 1996, one month after graduating
magna cum laude
, the
Golden State Warriors
selected him as the 11th pick in the second round (40th overall) in the
NBA draft
.
[4]
Between the NBA Draft and the first days of the Warriors' training camp, Mann's desire to play basketball faded away.
[1]
He felt that he had a higher calling in life, which was working with children as a Baptist minister.
[1]
On October 31, the day before the Warriors were set to open their season against the
Los Angeles Clippers
, Mann told the organization that he did not want to play professional basketball and that it would be unfair to both himself and the team to keep going.
[3]
Golden State released him, and Mann was no longer an NBA player. He sacrificed, minimally, the $220,000 rookie salary along with the glamour of an NBA lifestyle to pursue his calling.
[3]
[1]
References
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