SBLive Arkansas 2021-22 girls high school athlete of the year: Episcopal Collegiate’s Avery Marsh stars in basketball, earns all-state in 2 other sports

By Kyle Sutherland  

During her varsity career, Avery Marsh helped boost Episcopal Collegiate girls sports to statewide prominence. She especially made her mark in basketball — with some support from her dad and head coach, Micah. 

Before her freshman season, the Wildcats had never achieved a winning season in basketball, but by her sophomore year, they made their first state tournament appearance in school history. In her final season, she led them to the Class 3A state tournament quarterfinals as the team captain while setting school records for points (1,741) and steals (320).

She represented Episcopal at the Arkansas Activities Association all-star girls basketball game as a member of the East team and will continue her playing career at Rhodes College in Memphis.

Her athletic success goes well beyond hoops, however. Marsh is also a four-time all-state selection in soccer, helping Episcopal to a Class 3A state runner-up finish this season, and she was tabbed all-state in volleyball last fall, the sport in which she earned a state title her sophomore year. She did this all the while maintaining a 4.3 GPA.

“It has been great with all of my sports, especially with basketball to have had the first winning season in women’s history,” Marsh said. “It has been really nice to kind of develop the program as a whole, and I am really excited to see how it keeps growing because I definitely think it is going to keep getting better.” 

For her efforts, SBLive has named Marsh the Arkansas Girls Athlete of the Year.

It comes as no surprise that basketball was Marsh’s first love seeing as Micah was a four-year star at Arkansas State from 1994-98 and is a 2007 inductee to the school’s Hall of Honor. The Tennessee native finished his college career as ASU’s all-time leading three-point shooter while also finishing in the Top 10 in assists, free-throw percentage, scoring and steals. That passion and skill was passed down the line.

“I have been playing since I could walk probably,” Marsh said. “The others came along in high school; I just gave them a try. I have been in soccer for a little while, then started volleyball in eighth grade. At Episcopal, it is pretty easy to play multiple sports, so I just did it all.”

Micah knew at a young age that his daughter had the potential to excel in basketball as he did.

“Her mom and I talk about it — she was maybe in kindergarten that we were like, ‘Man, she is kind of bow-legged and pigeon-toed but maybe that is a good sign she is going to be athletic,’” he said. “She was really fast, aggressive and physical even at that age, so you are thinking she is going to be pretty good. Those are all good when you want to compete and be an athlete.”

Micah coached the Episcopal boys team to a state championship in 2015 and mentioned it was Avery’s class that really set the foundation for Episcopal girls basketball.

“They built that program,” he said. “All of those girls were athletic, very coachable, and wanted to make a difference, and as a coach, that is about all you can ask for.”

Now that her high school career is concluded and she left all girls athletics at Episcopal much better than when she came in as a freshman, particularly in basketball, she hopes she has set an example for the classes coming up that it is very possible to be both successful in athletics but also in the classroom.

“On the court you can be a good player, but being a good teammate, I think, is better and being a good leader,” Marsh said. “That is what I wanted to do — I wanted to be a good leader, especially for the girls that are coming up and are going to have to lead the team in the future, so I hope they learned something from that.”