Generally clear. Low near 70F. Winds light and variable..

Generally clear. Low near 70F. Winds light and variable.

Generally clear. Low near 70F. Winds light and variable..

Generally clear. Low near 70F. Winds light and variable.

Marshall's Taevion Kinsey (24) attempts a shot agaisnt Western Kentucky Jamarion Sharp (33) during an NCAA men’s basketball game on Wednesday, March 2, 2022, at the Cam Henderson Center in Huntington.

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Marshall's Taevion Kinsey (24) attempts a shot agaisnt Western Kentucky Jamarion Sharp (33) during an NCAA men’s basketball game on Wednesday, March 2, 2022, at the Cam Henderson Center in Huntington.

HUNTINGTON - The last four months haven't been the easiest for Marshall guard Taevion Kinsey.

There was plenty of reflection on the 2021-22 season, as well as some soul-searching that went on. And there's been lots of work put in, too.

Kinsey's aspirations are the NBA Draft and averaging nearly 20 points per game with five-plus rebounds and four assists are all great numbers, but the 6-5 scoring guard for the Thundering Herd admitted that last season simply wasn't good enough for him to put his name in the mix for the NBA Draft.

Instead, Kinsey re-focused himself in the gym by shoring up those inconsistent areas to get them right for the 2022-23 season so he could be more efficient on the floor.

Kinsey's a leader, and he wasn't about to leave Marshall knowing the Herd was coming off a 12-21 mark.

"Having that type of season last year, I don't know what would make you hungrier," Kinsey said. "This is going to be a fresh start."

When Marshall's team reconvened for summer workouts this week, it didn't take long for Kinsey to put words to actions.

The best example came in Monday's first day back. Toward the end of the live session, Kinsey's team trailed a pick-up game, 6-4, in a race to seven by ones and twos.

Kinsey got a defensive rebound, made a move and hit a pull-up 3-pointer to tie the game. That 3-pointer - and the confidence he shot it with - were big points of emphasis in his offseason.

"He has put in the hours," Marshall head coach Dan D'Antoni said. "He put in some last year, but he's doubled that effort this summer. He's got a shooting coach and has worked with him at times that we couldn't be with him so it keeps him working. Every time I see snapshots of him, shooting machines are saying that he shot 100 and made 92 from the free throw line and he's well over 60 to 70 percent from everywhere else."

Following his tying 3-pointer and a defensive stop, Kinsey took the ball on the wing and drove through the teeth of the defense, absorbing contact before elevating for a finger roll that gave his team the winning score.

At the end of each game, the player who scores the would-be game-winning bucket has to hit a free throw under pressure to win it. Kinsey capped it with that free throw to cap the comeback.

All of those areas - 3-point shooting, driving through contact and free throw shooting - were areas he sought to be more consistent coming into his final season with the Herd.

With the four-play sequence, Kinsey's focus and leadership shined to Marshall's coaching staff.

"What I love about the young man is that he feels like he let us down and he doesn't like that," Marshall head coach Dan D'Antoni said. "He's going to come back and show you why you should support Marshall basketball. He's doing everything he can this summer to get that done."

Kinsey said this season is a two-fold agenda for Marshall. He wants to win back the trust of fans who may have wavered while re-asserting Marshall as one of the league favorites - this time, in its new league: the Sun Belt Conference.

"For me, just looking off of last season, I think a lot of people lost faith in us - not our fans, but college basketball fans," Kinsey said. "We are joining a new league, too, so there's plenty of reason for excitement."

Grant Traylor is the sports editor of The Herald-Dispatch, who also covers Marshall athletics for HD Media. Follow him on Twitter @GrantTraylor.

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