Ginyard Has the Goods, Attitude

Dedication, Hard Work Paying Off

O'Connell's Marcus Ginyard spent the summer improving his game and hopes to win another WCAC title. (Joel Richardson -- The Washington Post)

If Marcus Ginyard didn't already have a sense of what life's going to be like playing big-time basketball next year, he's got a pretty good idea now.

Ginyard, a 6-foot-4 senior at O'Connell who has signed to play for North Carolina, spent last summer traversing the United States -- and beyond -- as a member of the Boo Williams under-17 AAU team. He also participated in the USA Basketball men's youth development festival, which invited the nation's top 48 high school players to play and train in Colorado. Ginyard estimated that he spent a total of three weeks at home during his three-month break from classes, often only finding time to do laundry before heading back to the airport.

Ginyard also caught a glimpse of how his life could change off the court, too. Last month as he led a tour of prospective students around O'Connell, an eighth-grade girl sheepishly approached him, handed him the school brochure and asked for his autograph.

"I'm used to getting attention, but when someone you don't even know -- and you're not on a basketball court -- comes up to you and asks for an autograph, I was blown away," Ginyard said. "When stuff like that happens, or when I'm watching Carolina on TV, it's hard not to look ahead to next year. I know [the attention] is going to get 10 times worse at Carolina."

But before he plays for the Tar Heels on national television, he must focus on the task at hand. And that's guiding the Knights as they try to defend their 2003-04 Washington Catholic Athletic Conference championship. O'Connell finished last season 30-4.

"I'm not looking at it as defending our WCAC championship. I see it as we're setting out to win another one," said Ginyard, who averaged 13 points per game last season and is a standout student, boasting a 3.8 grade-point average and membership in the National Honor Society. "As far as we're concerned, it's up for grabs in 2005."

That attitude, in part, is what drove Ginyard to play a grueling summer schedule, spend hours in the gym practicing and the rest of his time in the weight room. He was already widely regarded as one of the area's best defensive stoppers, now he has a vastly improved jump shot and sharper ball-handling skills, too. He also has an extra 20 pounds of muscle.

"I know he's worked hard to improve," said DeMatha Coach Mike Jones, who helped coach Ginyard as an assistant coach in USA Basketball's program last summer. "But as DeMatha's coach, I hope he didn't get a whole lot better."

Ginyard's teammate, Dave Neal, said that may just be wishful thinking on Jones's part.

"His offensive game has really shot up," said Neal, a 6-foot-7 235-pound senior who is the Knights' other returning starter. "He's playing and shooting the ball with more confidence. And he's got the quickest first step I've ever seen."

By expanding his offensive game and adding muscle, Ginyard has prompted area coaches and players who have seen him play recently to predict he'll be one of the area's most dominant players this season.

"We're really going to rely on him to be our leader this year," O'Connell Coach Joe Wootten said. "He's gotten bigger, and he's playing bigger. What we really love about Marcus is that he's already got a scholarship every high school player would want, but he's still working hard to get better."