Every Fan Should Know Jim Marsh

There are a lot of reasons that I was an unlikely choice to step to the forefront as a basketball advocate.

I had never played.

I had never coached.

I had never worked in the industry.

All of those reasons gave people a lot of skepticism about me early in my process but when I am asked about the difficulties I faced gaining early acceptance in the basketball community I always answer, "How could I have expected to have any respect in the basketball community when I didn't even know who Jim Marsh was?"

Jim Marsh has been a legend in the Seattle Community for years.  A former UCLA Bruin, NBA player and big man with the George Karl Founded Friends of Hoop league.  He was the former Director of Business Relationships for the Sonics and directly impacted the life of many of our regions prep, college and professional stars.

I look back at the early days and think of the audacity I had to try to be a leader of a group when I did not understand the basics of their heritage or the impact of Jim and so many other coaches, mentors and role models who had worked in the basketball community for years.

I've gotten to know Jim Marsh as the head of Washington State Mentors and a great adviser for my arena solution group.  Today he announced his retirement from Washington State Mentors and while I don't expect a huge amount of comments in this thread I wanted to acknowledge Jim's impact on the basketball community in Seattle. He and a lot of people like him work tirelessly without receiving the credit they are due only to have silly kids like me step up on blogs without nearly enough appreciation for their efforts.

Big respect to the Seattle hoops community.

Congrats on a great career Jim Marsh. Better late than never and I'm happy to know you now.