Following a 44-point explosion and near upset of a tough Miami squad, GSPN tabbed frequent collaborator of the show, Chris Stevens, to interview the A&M superstar.
The time period for this interview takes place between the prologue and chapter one of Say What You Mean.
Chris Stevens: As NC A&M’s first MIAA title in generations is within reach, senior combo guard David Marcus Collins is the Spartans heart and soul, but it took a while for those two characteristics to connect.
Collins, a 6-3 senior from Laurel, MD, had to sit and wait his freshman year before earning the starting two-guard nod the next season and has improved in every important statistical category, including the most important one - wins by his team.
Unquestioned sat down with David Marcus recently to talk about his game on AND off the court, which revealed some very interesting info about this talented hooper…and playa.
"David Marcus, welcome to the show, brother. I promise I will make this as painless as possible," Chris spoke into the camera.
After deleting a message I had planned on sending to Ms. Liza for about the twentieth time this week, this interview opportunity was timely as hell. I needed a distraction of any kind to shake up my thoughts of late.
When the media inquiry first came in, I called Unc to get his take on the reporter in question. I had done plenty of interviews on and off camera, but this was my first national show and looking like an idiot was not an option. After talking to the big fella we both agreed that we liked the fact that CJ was a known straight shooter. He wasn't afraid to ask a probing question or two, but he wasn't a clickbait reporter. Which was important because I didn't feel like answering any ridiculous questions like who I was fucking.
You never know who's watching.
As long as everything stayed within bounds, we were all good. And if not, doing an interview via split screen works too. Because I could always just hang up on his ass.
"Mr. Stevens, a pleasure to sit down with you. Big fan and regular listener of the Get Write to It Podcast. Looking forward to these questions, man. Let's rock."
"Fair enough. Well, let's jump right into it. We'll start off light."
How quickly have the four years gone by at NC A&M? Seemed like yesterday you were a kid that people chanted for to get in the game during the closing minutes of blowouts, now you’re the favorite for conference player of the year and your team is the best it’s been in 20 years.
Man Mr. Stevens, you have me out here sounding like an OG. True, I've been around the block a little bit but I'm still a youngin'. Don't age me too much. Nah, all jokes aside, the time has flown by. I came down to the Hillside for something different. To do something different. A&M hasn't been to the title game in 20 years, but we haven't won it all in over 30. The drought is older than me. Winning conference Player of the Year would be an honor, but hanging that banner would be legendary. That's the time I'm on.
How have you matured as a basketball player and as a student? That Big Man on Campus status can throw a roadblock up for the best of ballplayers but how has that been for you?
Big Man on Campus? Nah, I don't know about all that. I'll let somebody else have that title. For the most part, I move around like I always have. I go to class, I hoop, and work out. Outside of that, I'm coolin'. Now look, I'm not gonna lie to you, being BMOC does have its perks on occasion if you get what I'm saying. But…I'll put it to you like this and you can run with it as you see fit. Let’s say I have a love-hate relationship with cameraphones and social media.
As for maturing, natural progression. The student part was easy. Moms required at least a 3.0 back home if I wanted to hoop. So, that just carried over. But I'll say school has definitely helped a lot on the maturation front. Like you said in your intro, things were slow going freshman year. It wasn't because I couldn't play, but due to egos. I only know one way to go and that's hard. Some former teammates and opponents didn't know how to deal, so we butted heads. Surprisingly though Psychology 102, General Psychology helped with that. Learning about behavior and human development helped me to better understand people. Their motivations. It was up from there.
What do you think has been the change for you guys as a team? NC A&M on the schedule used to be a game that MIAA squads looked forward to either rest their stars or get back on track, now you guys are just as dangerous as anyone in the league, how’s it feel to be picked as a darkhorse favorite for the title this year?
Wild, right? I think its all due to a change in mentality and getting a different type of blood in the program. I can't really speak to what happened before I came down to A&M. But I was sold on signing here, by my being a lightning rod for change. To put it plainly, I don't like losing. But I hate being non-competitive even more. I'm used to running with dogs, Mr. Chris. If you don't love to hoop and compete, we are going to have problems--see my first couple of years. But thanks to a little luck in the transfer portal and the last two recruiting classes, we've been able to build. This is the most complete team we've had since I've been here. It's fun looking at the shift in how A&M is viewed when we walk into these opposing gyms now.
You’ve had some pretty good games against Power 5 comp, especially the 40-burger you fed Miami, who was just in the final four - what makes you step your game up against superior competition?
Shout out to Coach Boom and my Uncle Dre. Boom was my AAU coach and he had a mantra he instilled in us. “Make sure everybody knows who they just faced. Make'em feel you.” He has a real heavy voice, like the Allstate insurance guy. And my uncle played for about nine or ten years in the league as an offensive lineman. You might know him, Andre McTaw? He taught me the same thing, “hit’em first and send a message.” Because of where I’m from I've been hooping with 4 and 5-star players all my life. Regularly hooped against NBA-level talent that never made it past high school for personal reasons, feel me?
So called big schools like to try and intimidate teams they feel are beneath them. And if you don't respond they'll run you out the gym. The problem with that logic is, I'm from the county bruh, it's in the water back home. I put on for North Carolina A&M. But I'm representing my last name and Prince George's County Maryland. Basketball people say defense travels. Well so does this jumper. You gon' feel me, slim.
Okay, I definitely can respect that. So we gotta talk NIL - it’s changed the game for a lot of athletes and you’re among the top 15 in the country in NIL worth - what is it about the brand and the person of David Marcus Collins that has so many people and organizations lined up to do business with you?
Ha! You gotta love that, right? An HBCU kid killing it in the NIL game. Look, keeping it a buck I'm 50/50 on the whole thing. On one hand, I love how we're able to make money off our names and likenesses. But it's a dirty game IMO how some schools are winning in recruiting because of NIL set-ups via alums and supporters of those schools.
For me though, what you see is what you get. I try to be as genuine and forthright as possible. If a potential deal makes sense, I'll listen. But it has to be something I love or something lucrative. I like out-of-the-box opportunities with high percentage yields and stock options for the latter. Props to my Uncle Dre and his team for taking me international on the humble. I’m different. You notice you don’t see me repping any questionable national blogs or some random bank no one has ever heard of or hell, an underwear line. I don’t need to be seen, but I do need to see my money.
Yeah, I hear you Black man. So about what you just said--not needing to be seen. The streets have been buzzin’ not just about NIL, not just about the scoring…but somebody said they saw you on OnlyFans recently. You got a burner account for that we don’t know about or somethin’?
Come on Mr. Stevens!!! Ey man, this better be your last question. You know my momma and Aunt Elle are gonna see this right? Hey Auntie!
Nah so look, imma give you an exclusive. A friend of a friend, of a friend, was said to be from D.C. and wanted a jersey. It's always hometown over everything. So I slid over to her spot after practice with my boy Sherrod. What up, Rod! Long story short man, we got over there. Knocked on the door and she called out saying it was open. Maaan we walked in, and she was on the couch in an uh...uncompromising position.
Because of where and how she was uh situated, the camera was facing the door.
So look, was I on OnlyFans, yes.
But was I...ON...ONLYFANS? No. And that's that on that.
Chris made a face and nodded with a grin. "My guy said, I have zero time for scandals of any kind. You're sharp kid, I'll give you that. Well look, we are up against our time so before we get out of here, is there anything else you'd like to get off your chest?"
"Say what you mean and mean what you say. That's a message that can be applied to almost anyone and any situation. That's it," I replied. "Oh and thanks for having me."
Both, GSPN and this interview are fictional, however, Chris Stevens is not. Chris is a 21-year veteran sportswriter looking for news/feature/reporting/review opportunities in sports, music, and automotive journalism. He has experience covering high school and college sports in Delaware and Maryland, as well as contributing to sites such as HBCUGameday and HBCUSports. Most recently he has covered Delaware State University football for the News Journal, Delaware's largest newspaper. Link