Buchtel's Marcel Boyce Jr. brings 'tenacious attitude' to basketball court just like dad
Buchtel senior Marcel Boyce Jr. has heard all about how good of a basketball player his father was at the University of Akron.
As the kids say nowadays, Marcel Boyce Sr. was “getting buckets” during his time with the Zips.
The younger Boyce, 18, is in the process of “getting buckets” on a 19-6 Griffins team, which plays Youngstown Chaney in a Division II regional semifinal Thursday at Canton Memorial Civic Center.
Boyce Jr. led Buchtel in scoring in each district game last week:
20 points, five rebounds, five steals and four assists in an 83-41 win over Bay Village
22 points, 10 rebounds and three assists in a 70-44 district final win over VA-SJ.
“The progression from the time he was a freshman to where he had his incident with a broken nose in practice down in Myrtle Beach up until this point, I have seen the struggles and I have seen the ups and the downs, so it feels good to see my son at a point right now where he is happy,” Boyce Sr. said.
“... Marcel has a tenacious attitude and he is going to try to rebound and stick his nose in places where it shouldn’t be. He is a much better ball-handler at this point than I was. His overall court awareness takes him over the top and give him an extra edge.”
Boyce Sr. and Tanya Boyce are proud parents of their son, who is a Wayne State football recruit with a 3.6 GPA.
The elder Boyce, 57, scored 1,108 career points at Akron in 59 games from 1985-1987 under former Zips coach Bob Huggins. Boyce Sr. was named the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year in 1986, helping the Zips win the OVC title that year before narrowly losing to Michigan in the NCAA tournament.
The Phoenix Suns drafted Boyce Sr. with the 122nd pick in the 1987 NBA draft. He then played professionally for the Rapid City Thrillers in the Continental Basketball Association and for teams in Spain and Germany.
“I heard he could score, rebound, pass, play defense — everything,” Marcel Boyce Jr. said of his father. “He is a little bit bigger than me. He is 6-6 and I am 6-foot. We both can shoot. We both can score. He might rebound better than me. I will give him that, but I can pass better than him.”
The younger Boyce smiled as he talked about the comparison between he and his father.
“He helped me with a lot,” Boyce Jr. said. “He helped me get my form together on my shot. He helped me look at the game differently, how it’s more than just scoring and more than just playing defense. He helped me be a leader, and we talk about how to help your team in the locker room.”
Buchtel coach Rayshon Dent, 54, is appreciative of what Boyce Jr. brings to the Griffins, who have won four City Series championships and two district titles in his career.
Boyce Jr. and fellow seniors Khoi Thurmon, Amire Robinson and Jayden Maxwell start along with either junior Dakota Taylor or sophomore Stevie Diamond. Junior Diaire Pride Jr. is a key reserve.
“Marcel is definitely a leader,” Robinson said. “On and off the court he does what he is supposed to do, like in the classroom and in the hallways. He is a good person to be around. Everybody knows he is a dog on the court when it comes to scoring, rebounding and whatever you need him to do.”
Dent appreciates Boyce Jr.'s toughness.
“Marcel doesn’t shy away from contact,” Dent said. “He is a physical player. He scores a lot of his points inside the paint. He does the job on all three levels, at the rim, in the mid-range and he has been shooting the 3-ball really well.”
Dent, a 6-4 1986 Buchtel graduate, played in pickup games with and against Marcel Boyce Sr. at Buchtel and Perkins Park.
“You could tell that this guy is really, really good,” Dent said of Boyce Sr. “Marcel was always one of the top players on the court. The guy was special.”
Dent said that description also fits for Boyce Jr., who scored 31 points in a 75-58 regular-season win over Canton McKinley in February.
“You can see his father shine through him,” Dent said. “Marcel is a business-minded player. He doesn’t play around with the game when he is on the court. I can tell that his dad poured a lot into him on the basketball end. He is a high character kid. I can remember the tenacity that his dad played with, and I can see it in him.
“Big Marcel is a good person and was a great player, and his son is showing the same thing — he is a good person and a great player.”
Boyce Jr. started playing basketball at age 3 and football at 5. He took a break from football in middle school and returned to it the last two years at Buchtel.
“My dad always preached school, school, school,” Boyce Jr. said. “You can’t do anything without education. You will not go anywhere if your grades are not right. That is what he has preached to me since I was little. He would say, ‘School comes first and basketball comes second.’ Basketball-wise, he helped me since I was little, 4 or 5. We would get in the gym. He put me on all different types of teams and in all different types of situations just to get me better and to get me ready for moments like this.”
Boyce Jr. and Griffins senior Tajh Poole played on two Litchfield teams that won City Series middle school titles.
“He has become my best friend,” Poole said. “It has been a great journey from eighth grade through all four years of high school. He is a great teammate. He always looks out for others before he looks out for himself. He is a funny person who is always looking to joke around, but when it is time to lock in he locks in and is one of the leaders on this team.”
Thurmon calls the younger Boyce “a hard-working man ... who is always here to compete."
"He always comes to practice trying to make you better.”
Boyce Jr. is set to play wide receiver at Wayne State under new coach Tyrone Wheatley, who was hired in late January. Paul Winters, an Akron native, served as Warriors coach from 2004-22. Wheatley was a star running back at Michigan and in the NFL.
“For my senior year, this is my last chance and my last run,” Boyce Jr. said. “I want to make it the best year I can. Everybody’s goal is to go to the state tournament, and I feel like this team can really do it and do something special for the community and the school.”
Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Buchtel basketball's Marcel Boyce Jr. is a talented scorer like dad
