Binghamton’s roster lists senior guard Marlon Beck — generously — at 5-foot-11. That places him among the 10 shortest players in the America East (AE) Conference. What Beck lacks in height, though, he has more than made up for in his past three years in a Bearcats’ uniform.
His impact on the team has been so great that at a preseason press conference, BU head coach Tommy Dempsey cited one of his main goals for this season as winning, with Beck in mind.
“It’s really important to me that we win before [Marlon Beck] leaves,” Dempsey said. “[Beck] deserves to leave here as a winner. He’s a winner as a person. He’s meant a lot to the program, but he hasn’t been on a winning team yet. I want him to leave here feeling like he was part of a group that started to turn this program around.”
Beck has played an important role since his rookie season, when he started 20 games and averaged 10.2 points. As a sophomore, he was one of the lone veterans in a freshman-dominated starting five, and led the squad in assists and steals. As a junior last season, he was second only to sophomore forward Willie Rodriguez in scoring, averaging nearly 10 points per contest.
Beck, a combo guard, made most of his appearances at the point as an underclassman. His success as a sophomore, when his scoring hit double digits in 10 of Binghamton’s 16 conference games, was due largely to his ability to balance taking shots for himself and finding them for his teammates.
With BU’s recent increase in backcourt depth — last season with freshman forward Everson Davis and this year with transfer sophomore guard J.C. Show — Beck saw more time as shooting guard. With the switch from one to two, Beck improved his 3-point field goal percentage from 27.5 percent in 2013-14 to a team-best 35.8 percent last season.
The Bowie, Maryland native is valuable to BU for more than just the mark he makes on the box score. Beck has thrived in the leadership position into which he was forced as an underclassman, facing the spotlight head on instead of shying away from it.
A member of one of Dempsey’s first recruiting classes at Binghamton, Beck has been key to BU’s rebuilding process. He has watched teammates Jordan Reed and Nick Madray transfer from the program. He has seen BU’s hopes thwarted by injury after injury. Through it all, Beck has held on to the belief that the Bearcats have the potential to become serious contenders in the AE.
“When I first got here, coach Dempsey put a lot of trust into me and we kind of had the same vision,” Beck said. “There have been a couple of ups and a couple of downs throughout that process, but [Dempsey and I] have been in it together.”
Beck plans to use his experiences to lead BU on its quest to record a winning conference record.
“I have a lot of minutes and experiences under my belt, so now I walk into the locker room and on the court every single day with most guys who are younger than me playing,” he said. “I’ve always had a voice on the court, but now it’s time to show everybody, especially the newer guys, where they need to be on the court or what they need to be doing to be better.”