A local alum is taking his basketball career to a new space.
Former Prairie View High School basketball player Trey Marble is still involved in his sport, and his new role keeps him at his college alma mater, Western Wyoming Community College in Rock Springs, Wyoming.
Averaging more than 20 points and five assists as a senior, Marble scored over 1,000 points at Prairie View before going on to dominate in college also. He was even an all-Eastern Metro Athletic Conference choice for Prairie View in 2017.
Playing came easily to Marble, but coaching was never really what Marble envisioned himself doing.
“Coaching was never a goal for me until I finished playing basketball,” Marble said. “After I was finished with my college career, I found myself watching more basketball than I have ever watched up until that point.”
That’s when the idea of coaching entered the picture. Marble was an all-conference player and a member of the Mustangs’ National Junior Collegiate Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region IX title-winning team in 2020.
“I was burnt out from playing, but I still had the love and passion for the game,” he said. “I knew I had more to give to the game, and that’s when it felt like a ‘paying-it-forward’ type of thing.”
A case of the nerves came with the new job, too. But he’s confident he’ll adjust quickly. He already has.
“Once I got going, it felt like second nature,” Marble said. “Now that we’re in-season, there’s not a day that goes by that I’m not excited about what’s to come. I like to take things one goal at a time, and that’s to win the region championship so we can go compete for a national championship.”
Averaging 14 points and 3.6 assists per contest in two seasons, Marble recorded 612 points, 150 rebounds, 202 assists, 58 steals and 120 three-pointers at Western Wyoming before transferring to the University of Illinois-Springfield. For UIS, he averaged 10.5 points, 2.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game in two seasons.
Marble rejoins a Western Wyoming team that was 18-14 last year and earned a spot in the Region IX tournament.
His new tasks for the Mustangs include on-court player development, scouting reports, film sessions, weight training and “pitching in where it is needed.”
He also uses teachings from past coaches in his new role. In fact, he relies on them.
“I’ve had some really good coaches throughout my life, and I like to take bits and pieces from all of them,” Marble said. “I take the most from Coach Damian Romero (Prairie View’s boys basketball coach) because I feel like he had the biggest impact on me as a player. I’ve witnessed him develop some great players and teams.”
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