Mills attended Morristown East and was the teammate of another Mountaineer great, Walt Bragg. There, he won three letters in football and one in basketball. He was also named All-State in both sports and All-American in football. "Snake" was Mills' nickname by his teammates. He was also called "Chilly" because he was so cool.

His freshman year at WVU, he led the team in receiving (24, 309 yards, 4TDs) and followed that up with a great spring. In two Gold-Blue games, he caught a total of 15 passes for 272 yards and two TDs. As a sophomore, he was the leading receiver with 39 receptions for 659 yards and three touchdowns. These scores were a 41-yard reception against Virginia, a 43-yard catch against William and Mary, and a 24-yard reception against Syracuse. The following spring, he scored the lone touchdown for the Blue team in the first intra-squad game on a 55-yard toss from Ade Dillon. He also pulled in five catches for 116 yards. In the final scrimmage he, scored the first touchdown for the Gold Team on a 10-yard play from Chuck Fiorante. Mills started at split end during his junior year. That year, he caught 29 passes for 397 yards and scored two touchdowns. The following spring, he gave an excellent performance although he missed the final Blue-Gold game with a shoulder injury. Entering his senior year he was the starting wide receiver, a post he has started at since his sophomore year.

Image of Marshall Mills courtesy of FootballCardGallery.com