Former Iowa star Roy Marble dies after battling cancer at 48

Roy Marble, the high-flying guard who scored the most points in Iowa history as he helped the Hawkeyes become a national power in the mid-1980s, died Friday after a long battle with cancer. He was 48.

Iowa spokesman Matt Weitzel said Marble died in Grand Blanc, Michigan. Marble was a prep star from Flint before leaving his home state to play for the Hawkeyes from 1986-89, scoring 2,116 points and headlining perhaps the best years the program has ever seen.

Marble was drafted 23rd overall by the Atlanta Hawks in 1989. But he suspended by the NBA for the season in February of his rookie year for violating the league's substance-abuse policy. He played just 29 games in the NBA.