Consider him Pitt's own hype man.
If you look close enough during the player introductions during Panthers games, you would notice one particular player who sparks the energy with customized and personalized handshakes for each of Pitt's starters. He keeps the energy going with each passing minute of the game, whether that comes from outward expression or from subtle tones which rub off on his teammates.
Walk-on KJ Marshall has a certain role to play, and he embraces it with each game. He fell in love with the idea of crafting handshakes and getting into the hype-man role from his favorite player, who does and did the exact same for the teams which he plays and has played for.
"Growing up, LeBron (James) is my favorite player," Marshall told me on Friday, "and to see how LeBron used to go out and do the handshakes with everybody, I've been doing it since I've probably been eight, nine, 10 years old."
The inspirations for these come from all different angles, whether they're from personal experience, pop-culture or, in most cases, a blend of the two, Marshall took charge of curating the identity of the pregame hype for Pitt starters Nelly Cummings, Greg Elliott, Jamarius Burton, Blake Hinson, and Federiko Federiko.
In Pitt home games, the starters are announced in the order of Federiko, Hinson, Elliott, Burton, and the Midland, Pa., native Cummings.
Federiko does not have as much of a handshake, as he strikes a pose while Marshall acts as his photographer before sending him on his way to center court.
Hinson and Marshall will slap five, motion like they are rolling dice, and then slap five again before Hinson goes on his way.
Elliott will slap five with Marshall three times before putting his hands together and next to his ear, as if he is laying down on a pillow.
Burton's is the simplest of the five, as he and Marshall calmly bump forearms as Burton walks away.
Lastly, Cummings and Marshall slap five twice, and the two lock their forearms in front of their counterparts and pull them down in front of their faces.
"First of all, you've got to find the individual person's personality," Marshall told me on Friday. "With Blake, we love -- we always go in detail with every type of handshake we have. A lot of the normal handshakes you have, they might end with a salute or end with a fist bump. Me and Blake try to add a little spice to it. Rolling some dice, whatever the case is, because my favorite rapper is NBA YoungBoy, and if you see on one of his album covers, he's rolling dice, so we add that into it with Blake. Blake is a shooter, and the best shooter in the NBA is Steph Curry, so I feel like we add a little spice in there (for Elliott) because when Steph hit the last 3 in the (NBA) Finals against the Celtics, you got to go to sleep, so that's really big for us. The 3 is the dagger. Got to put him to sleep with it.
"Federiko Federiko, he might not tell you, and he won't admit it, but he's very photogenic, and he loves pictures, so when he comes up, I've got to stop him, check him out, get two pictures, and tell him to get out of here, because you've got to stop taking so many pictures. It's time to go play now.
"And, then Nelly, he's the hometown hero, so I feel like every time he's got to come out here, he has to have the cage going. He has to have the cape on, he's got to have the mask on. Every type of super hero he wants to be that night, he has to be that. So, we come in, we get a few hand claps, and you've got to put the mask on. He loves "Batman," so when Batman puts the mask on, then it's time to go.
"And, JB, last but not least, he's strong. It's simple. So you've got to keep those simple as possible. So, I see him, quick little fist, know what I'm saying? Then it's time to go play."
Pitt does a wonderful job of its pregame cinematic before each game at the Petersen Events Center. The Panthers' introductions are preceded by a video highlight package, as is the standard, with a royal blue and gold light show and with spotlights shining upon the court. The announcement of the Panthers' starting lineup, often dictated by longtime radio play-by-play announcer Bill Hillgrove, is set to the instrumental of rapper Waka Flocka Flame's "Hard in da Paint."
Marshall chose to walk on at Pitt in 2019, before transferring to play two seasons of junior college ball in Kansas and then in North Carolina. He transferred back to Pitt over this past offseason and has been an integral player behind the scenes.
"I feel like everybody on the team has their individual role, and my role right now is not to put the ball in the hole, it's not to come out, contribute on the court right now. It's to bring energy," Marshall said. "The quickest way to bring energy is by talking, handshakes, doing extra celebrations, and I feel like that really translates to the other guys. On a day-to-day basis, however I can bring energy, regardless of it's dancing -- if you all know me, I dance all the time -- if that's the thing I can bring, I'm bringing it every day."
Marshall has not played much this season -- 18 minutes across eight games -- but he is not bothered by that. He is another example of Pitt's oft-discussed veteran leadership which is, as Hinson said after Pitt beat Wake Forest, a "whole caravan worth of good guys happy to go along on this ride."
"I feel like it would be cliche to say 'dream come true,'" Marshall said, "but every day you expect something new. This offseason, we weren't like a lot of teams that were together from May all the way out. The first time we were all together was in August before we were getting ready to go to classes and everything else. I feel like the expectations that we had as a unit was to take each day to get better each day. A lot of people are actually shocked of how we're actually doing as a team. They're seeing the games that we're winning, the type of ways that we're battling together, and a lot of people are shocked.
"To us, I feel like we dedicated ourselves to the grind and to the process earlier on. We didn't come in here expecting to be a 25-, however-many-win team. We didn't put a number or anything. We just wanted to take everything day by day, and I feel like it's actually starting to show. We don't look too far ahead, we don't look in the past. We just look one day forward. I feel like that's been the craziest part for me. And then on top of that, the every day camaraderie of everybody, that has been the most joyful part for me."
Marshall, referred by his teammates as "Champ," took the reins of being the Panthers' handshake guy during their first exhibition game against Clarion. Hinson and he, as Marshall said, came up with their handshake on the fly and stuck with it. Some games -- particularly the ones on the road -- call for more than just the standard designed handshake, which is another call made on the fly.
"Depending on how the away crowd is, because Duke is -- they're loud, they're energetic, their fans and everything -- so, me and Blake finished our roll of the dice and picked it up, we just turned around and silenced the student section," Marshall said. "I feel like it varies from game-to-game, but at the end of the day I feel like each player who comes out throughout the starting lineup, you've got to have your own, individual swag."
Marshall equated that "swag" to a morning routine.
"You've always got something that you do to get yourself going," he added. "Me, I may go into the mirror, I may shadow box for a few seconds. That's what gets me going. I feel like the only battle I face every day is myself. I feel like that's the last part before you actually go and do what you do."
