Growing up in Brooklyn, basketball was just part of Natalija Marshall’s life. Growing up, the 6-foot-5 forward at the nationally ranked University of Notre Dame (UND) was always the tallest in her class. Both of her parents had been competitive athletes—her father in soccer and her mother in track and field—so sports are a family thing.
“Anyone who grew up in New York City, grew up in the parks,” said Marshall. “One of our first apartments in Brooklyn, I could see a basketball court from our living room window, so we were always over there. My dad taught me how to shoot. That’s where I really worked on fundamentals growing up. I joined a local club team and then eventually went onto the AAU circuit and that led me to Christ the King.”
When Marshall had the opportunity to attend Christ the King High School, alma mater of women’s basketball greats Chamique Holdsclaw, Tina Charles and Sue Bird, the family moved to Queens. She credits her time management and organizational skills to lessons she learned from the school’s basketball program.
Unfortunately, not only did the pandemic coincide with her senior season of high school, but she tore her ACL shortly before quarantine began. With many physical therapy facilities closed, she rehabbed on her own, but was not in playing condition when she arrived for her freshman year at UND, causing her to redshirt. “It taught me so much, seeing life and the game from a different perspective,” said Marshall, who began to see action in her sophomore year.
Academics played a huge role in Marshall’s choice of where to play college basketball. She also wanted to play for a female head coach. “I really wanted to be around powerful women; I wanted to be mentored by them,” she said. “That wasn’t something I’d really experienced a lot in sports up until that point.”
Now in her senior year academically, but a junior in terms of basketball eligibility, Marshall hasn’t yet decided whether she will return for another season. Regardless of what comes next, playing for head coach Niele Ivey has been incredibly satisfying.
“The people have made this experience amazing,” said Marshall, who has double majors in American studies and political science with a minor in public service. “Being able to be mentored by a Black woman and having powerful Black women around me, pushing and inspiring me every day, has been huge.”