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01/16/2019 11:00 PMWestbrook High School senior Savannah Marshall has committed to play for the Division I women’s basketball team at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield. Marshall has been a starter on the Westbrook girls’ basketball team since her freshman season. After eight years of playing AAU basketball, traveling the country for tournaments, being recruited by Division I, II, and III colleges, and visiting more than 15 schools, Marshall has decided to further her academic and athletic career at Sacred Heart University, where she will play for Head Coach Jess Mannetti.
Marshall said the biggest factor in her decision to attend Sacred Heart was the atmosphere surrounding the team and on its campus. Marshall also got to know Coach Mannetti and grew intrigued with the idea of playing for the Pioneers throughout the recruiting process.
“I chose Sacred Heart because of the way I felt when I was on campus. I immediately felt at home,” said Marshall. “Coach Jess has been recruiting me for a few years, and I have visited many times and attended their Elite camps. Coach and her staff are not only great coaches, but great people. I am extremely excited to be a Pioneer!”
Sacred Heart’s coaches were omnipresent during the last two years of Marshall’s recruiting process, attending the Westbrook girls’ basketball team’s games, as well as many of Marshall’s AAU games around the country. Marshall was invited for a visit to the school in the fall of her junior year, and she immediately liked both the coaches and the campus.
Knights’ Head Coach Kelly Landino, who is Marshall’s mother, expressed great pride in seeing her daughter and Westbrook’s star player head off to a school that can offer so much to Marshall.
“I am very happy for Savannah as a coach and as a mom. As her coach, I am proud of her for choosing Division I basketball and challenging herself to become a better player every step of her career. As a mom, I am proud of her for choosing with her heart,” Landino said. “Sacred Heart is the right place for Savannah on every level. I think Coach Jess is a wonderful role model for Savannah, and the staff is warm and caring, but fiercely competitive. She will be close to home, and I am looking forward to watching her grow on and off the court.”
Throughout the course of her high school career, Marshall earned a number of honors that made her a coveted player for many colleges, including All-Shoreline Conference selections in 2016, 2017, and 2018; All-State selections in 2017 and 2018, selection to New Haven Tap-Off Club All-Area Team in 2017 and 2018, and New Haven Register All-Area Team honors in 2017 and 2018. Marshall entered her senior season at Westbrook with 1,133 career points after averaging 17.6 points, 9.4 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 4.6 steals per game as a junior last season.
Now a senior captain, Marshall has led Westbrook to a record of 6-3 thus far this season. On Jan. 2, she recorded a triple-double by scoring a career-high 40 points to go along with 16 rebounds and 12 steals in a victory against Old Saybrook.