Andrés Marrero averaged 7.9 points for the Explorers last season. (Photo: La Salle athletics)
By AARON BRACY
November 1, 2024
LA SALLE 2024-25 Big5Hoops.com Preview Package
-La Salle Season Preview Story
-La Salle 2024-25 Capsule Preview
-La Salle Season Preview Podcast
Player Spotlight: Andrés Marrero
Class: Redshirt Junior
Position: Guard
Height: 6-foot-3
Weight: 200 pounds
Hometown: Caracas, Venezuela
2023-24 stats: 26 games/1 start, 7.9 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 1.2 apg, .382 FG (65-170), .394 3PT (52-132), .719 FT (23-32)
Outside of basketball: Two-time Atlantic 10 commissioner’s honor roll. … Senior class president at Upper Room Christian School in Dix Hills, N.Y. … Leadership council at La Salle
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Andrés Marrero could only sit and watch as La Salle made a strong push down the stretch last season in the Atlantic 10. Marrero’s promising sophomore season was cut short by injury, but the Venezuela native is healthy, confident, and hungry heading into this season.
“I’m excited and ready to prove to people,” Marrero, who missed the final seven contests last season, said at A-10 media day on October 7.
The 6-foot-3 sharpshooter connected on 39.4 percent of three-pointers last season when he averaged 7.9 points while coming off the bench for all but one contest in his 26 appearances. His confidence got a boost this offseason when 24 points against Russia while playing for his home country.
“Russia was great,” he said. “I was blessed that I went there.”
Mentally Prepared
La Salle coach Fran Dunphy, in conversations with Big5Hoops.com, has detailed how Marrero is learning how to get better as a shooter, how to work off screens to get open, and how to stay in constant movement.
Marrero likely has learned a ton under the veteran coach, and there’s still more to glean. As a two-time A-10 commissioner’s honor roll student and member of La Salle’s leadership council, Marrero certainly is doing a good job of taking in the wisdom of Dunphy. And he feels he has a good understanding of what he needs to do to be successful.
“I would say I’m more mentally prepared,” he said.
A Leader, On and Off the Court
Dunphy shared a story at A-10 media day of how Marrero led a group of Explorers, including transfers Eric Acker and Demetrius Lilley, to the home of an Explorers fan who is a wheelchair basketball player.
“Those three were at his house shooting jumpers, hanging out,” Dunphy said. “I expect (Marrero) to do those things as a leader, and he did it. Those are things that make you better as a basketball team, and they certainly make you better as a human being.”
La Salle’s coach expects Marrero’s on-court leadership and game to take a step forward this season. And so does the player.
“I’m 100 percent healthy,” he said. “Ready to go.”
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Aaron Bracy has been covering Philadelphia sports since 1996. His byline regularly appears on Associated Press stories. Follow Bracy on X: @Aaron_Bracy and like his Facebook and Instagram pages. His book on the 2003-04 Saint Joseph’s men’s basketball team is expected to be published on March 1, 2025. Read a summary and preorder it by clicking HERE. Contact him at aaron@big5hoops.com.