Tuesday, 19th March 2024

Marble becomes member of Magic

Posted on 26. Jun, 2014 by in Iowa Basketball

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By Brendan Stiles

HawkeyeDrive.com

Former Iowa guard Devyn Marble will be a member of the Orlando Magic after being taken in the second round of the 2014 NBA Draft on Thursday. Marble was selected 56th overall by the Nuggets, but Denver made the pick for Orlando as part of a trade where the Nuggets acquired Arron Afflalo.

Marble is the first Hawkeye player drafted by a NBA team since 2007 when Adam Haluska was chosen 43rd overall by the then-New Orleans Hornets. As a senior last season, Marble led Iowa in scoring with an average of 17 points per contest and was named first-team all-Big Ten.

Watching the draft in his hometown of Southfield, Mich., with about 20-25 family and friends — including Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery and his staff — on Thursday, Marble called the moment “surreal” when his agent, former Iowa guard B.J. Armstrong, had notified him that he was Orlando bound.

“At first, I was just happy and just blessed to have been taken off the board and I think the Orlando Magic is a great organization for me,” Marble said during a teleconference late Thursday night. “They’ve got some young guys with talent and I think it’s a good spot for me, to be honest.”

Marble also went on to say how the moment was more emotional for him than even he thought it would end up being. He mentioned how he felt confident about being picked, even as the draft got near the very end where Marble ended up going.

“I’m not even an emotional guy, but I was just happy to come this far,” Marble said. “So much hard work was put into it. I don’t think people truly understand how hard I had to work to get to where I’m at today. So I think just all of that poured out at once.”

The trade in which Orlando acquired the pick used to select Marble was just completed Thursday. Because the Magic didn’t originally have a late second round selection, Marble never actually took part in a workout with Orlando. He did however acknowledge that despite not working out for the Magic that it had interest in him.

Earlier in the draft, Orlando ended up with point guard Elfrid Payton out of Louisiana-Lafayette. With that in mind, Marble said he would likely be used as a wing player for the Magic after playing both point and off-guard during his four-year career with the Hawkeyes.

“That’s what most teams felt like my position was, a 2 or 3,” Marble said. “Especially as a 2 and then as I get stronger as a 3 also. So they’re probably going to use my versatility more as a wing player than a point guard.”

As Marble looks forward to the next chapter in his life, which starts Friday with an introductory press conference in Orlando, he also took time Thursday to recognize the last four years spent as a Hawkeye. He said McCaffery told him how proud he was of what Marble had accomplished. Marble also believes his selection into the NBA will create an impact on the current Iowa program as it moves on without him.

“I think prospects and recruits are going to look at Coach McCaffery and see that he does have a formula to put players into the draft,” Marble said. “Also looking at Aaron White, going to the [Kevin] Durant camp is very helpful also. I think it will really help him moving forward with his recruiting and getting the team together that he wants.”

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