Marvin Branch doesn’t mind being called “The Enforcer” – unless he’s off the baksetball court.
“I don’t want people to have the wrong idea about me,” he said. “I’m a nice guy off the court. Really.”
However, the 6-10, 225-pound junior from Detroit’s inner city admits the nickname probably fits his on-court behavior.
“I’ve always been a physical player,” he said. “My strength is in blocking shots and edging people out for rebounds. That’s just my game. I play tough.”
Ideed, the soft-spoken Branch has established a reputation as a player who can both give and take. Coach Larry Brown, who handed Branch the nickname, noted that he was one of the few Kansas players who wouldn’t hesitate to get physical with Danny Manning.
But toughness is second nature, Branch said.
“Detroit’s a tough city, basically,” he said. “The playgrounds, the high school games…they were all pretty rough.”
Branch can absorb punishment, too. In fact, he said the only injury he has suffered was a slightly sprained ankle.
“I just don’t think about getting injured,” he said. “I go out and play hard. If an injury happens, I’ll just try to shake it off and get back in shape.”
Interestingly, Branch will be playing against a pair of high school teammates – Nathan Buntin and Lee Coward – this season when Kansas plays Missouri. Buntin and Coward were juniors during Branch’s senior year, when the team placed second at the regional finals.
“This summer all Nathan and Lee did was talk about how Missouri was gonna beat us,” he said. “So first of all, one of my main goals is to beat them. They were really spreading it on thick, and that just made me want it even more.”
Another goal, Branch said, is to successfully supply the inside beef the Jayhawks lacked last year.
“I think it’s really important for this team to have a big man underneath,” he said. “I think it’s gonna help the team out quite a bit. I’m just gonna come in and play the kind of game coach Brown wants me to play. As long as I stay in that role, I’ll do fine.”
The role should be comfortable for Branch, who played center both at Barton County and Hutchinson.
Last year, he averaged 15.9 points and 10.7 rebounds a game for Barton County, a performance that landed him spots on the Jayhawk Junior College All-Conference team and the NJCAA All-America second team.
In the 1985-86 season, Branch was red-shirted at Hutchinson.
Branch said the strong-arm role sometimes angers opposing fans, as happened in a game against Hutchinson last year.
“I was real pumped that night – real pumped – because the whole Hutchinson crowd was against me,” he said. “I had my best game that night. I scored 15 points and had 23 rebounds.”
Branch said he’s not worried about being a newcomer against the Big Eight’s other strong rebounders, such as Oklahoma’s 6-9 Harvey Grant and Colorado’s 6-9 Scott Wilke who averaged 9.9 and 6.7 rebounds a game, respectively.
“I don’t think they could intimidate me,” he said. “I’ll just try to play the game and not make any mistakes.”
He said he also wasn’t overly concerned about the pressures that come with playing at a Division-I school.
“A court’s just a court,” said Branch, a personnel/business major. “I’ll play anywhere on any kind of court. I’ll just try to block out the pressure and play harder. I think that kind of competition will motivate me. I might get butterflies the first game or two, but I think I’ll get used to it.”
What Branch IS concerned about is his off-court reputation. Sure, he’s a tough customer on court. But that’s where the tough-guy image stays, he says.
“I don’t have any problems with it, as long as people don’t perceive me wrong,” he said. “It’s just a job.”
