Marshall Cho enjoys speaking to his community through the language of basketball.
So, when the opportunity of becoming the head coach of the World Select Team at the 2024 Nike Hoop Summit presented itself earlier this week, the former varsity boys basketball coach at Lake Oswego High School seized it.
“I was super excited when I got the news. Obviously, I know that it’s a big responsibility,” Cho said. “The opportunity to blend the group together in a week’s time is really cool, and just honoring their journey too and celebrating their success.”
The Nike Hoop Summit, hosted in Portland, is an annual high school all-star game that features the top upcoming prospects from around the globe. Naturally, Cho was seen as a good fit for the World Select Team head coaching position, as the former Laker has spent plenty of time teaching basketball overseas.
Prior to taking the reins at Lake Oswego, Cho spent several years in Mozambique, working for groups like the Mozambican National Basketball Federation and NBA’s Basketball Without Borders: Africa.
Later in his career, after moving back to the U.S., Cho initially volunteered on the Team USA side of the Nike Hoop Summit, before being named an assistant coach for the World Select team in 2023.
Just a year later, Cho is now the head coach of the same team, leading a talented group of foreign players against the United States’ best.
“It was just an incredible honor to get the call,” Cho said. “And to return an honor like that is to honor each of these players, their families and their countries, and try to fit it all together so we can get the win and celebrate.”
Cho, who spent eight years at the helm for Lake Oswego High School, now has his basketball-related sights set on growing the game locally, putting on youth camps and clinics around the Portland metro area.
According to Cho, the Nike Hoop Summit can be an extension of that, inspiring the younger generations of Portlandian hoopers by bringing high school’s brightest stars to the area every year.
“At the end of the day, it’s really about using this platform to consider how I can help the state of Oregon and Portland become a basketball city,” Cho said. “And how we can become a bridge for the rest of the world, coming and going from our state.”
The Hoop Summit World roster features plenty of big-time names, including a handful of college commits. The roster includes: Melvin Ajinca (France), Flory Bidunga (Republic of Congo/Kansas), K Annor Boateng (Ghana/Missouri), Ulrich Chomche (Cameroon), Zoom Diallo (Ivory Coast/Washington), AJ Dybantsa (Jamaica and Republic of Congo), VJ Edgecombe (Bahamas/Baylor), Kasparas Jakucionis (Lithuania), Khaman Maluach (South Sudan/Duke), Hamad Mousa (Qatar), Qingfang Pang (China) and Nolan Traore (France).
With the former Laker at the helm, the 2024 edition of the Nike Hoop Summit will take place on Saturday, April 13 at The Moda Center. The game is set to tip at 7:00 p.m.
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