Marcos Antônio Abdalla Leite, also commonly known as Marquinhos Leite (born March 23, 1952) is a retired Brazilian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. He represented the senior

Brazilian national basketball team The Brazil national basketball team is governed by the Brazilian Basketball Confederation ( pt, Confederação Brasileira de Basketball), abbreviated as CBB. They have been a member of the International Federation of Basketball (FIBA), since 19 ...

at three

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

and four

FIBA World Cup The FIBA Basketball World Cup, also known as the FIBA World Cup of Basketball or simply the FIBA World Cup, between 1950 and 2010 known as the FIBA World Championship, is an international basketball competition contested by the senior men's nat ...

competitions. At a height of 2.08 m (6'10") tall, he played at the

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

position.

Early career

Leite, originally from

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, began playing

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

basketball with the Brazilian team

Fluminense Fluminense Football Club (), known as Fluminense, is a Brazilian sports club best known for its professional football team that competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the first tier of Brazilian football and the Campeonato Carioca, ...

(1967–1974). In addition, he played on loan at E.C. Sírio in some championships between 1971 and 1973.

College career

In 1972, Leite averaged 16 points per game, at the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics.Profile, Basketball Brasil (Portuguese)
, accessed September 14, 2011

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and t ...

's American head coach, Gary Colson, recruited Leite to the

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

school, based on his performance at the Olympics. Leite later went on to play

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

at the school, where he starred with the

Pepperdine Waves The Pepperdine Waves are the athletics teams of Pepperdine University, located outside the city of Malibu, California. They compete at the Division I level of the NCAA. The school is a member of the West Coast Conference for the majority of its ...

, from 1974 to 1976. He made an immediate impact in the

West Coast Athletic Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting of ...

, earning All-WCAC Second Team honors as a freshman, and All-WCAC First Team honors as a sophomore. As a junior, in the 1975–76 season, Leite and

junior college A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations and workers in su ...

transfer

Dennis Johnson Dennis Wayne Johnson (September 18, 1954 – February 22, 2007), nicknamed "DJ", was an American professional basketball player for the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Seattle SuperSonics, Phoenix Suns, and Boston Celtics. He was a c ...

, led the Waves to a conference title, the school's second Division I NCAA Tournament appearance, and first NCAA Tournament win. The Waves beat

Memphis State } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering, the Center for Ea ...

, in the first round, before losing to defending national champion

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

, in the Sweet 16. Leite was named the WCAC Player of the Year, and an Honorable Mention All-American. Following the season, Leite informed Colson that he would forgo his final year of college eligibility, in order to play professionally. During his college career, Leite scored 1,119 points (18.7 points per game), and grabbed 638 rebounds (10.6 per game). He was inducted into Pepperdine's Athletic Hall of Fame in 2013.2013 Hall of Fame Inductee: Marcos Leite.
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Professional career

After college, Leite was drafted by the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

, in the

1976 NBA draft The 1976 NBA draft was the 30th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on June 8, 1976, before the 1976–77 season. In this draft, 18 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players a ...

, in the 10th round, with the 162nd overall pick. However, he never played in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

. During his pro career, Leite played

basketball in his native Brazil, with

, E.C. Sírio, C.R. Flamengo, and E.C. Bradesco. He also played in the

Italian League The Italic League or Most Holy League was an international agreement concluded in Venice on 30 August 1454, between the Papal States, the Republic of Venice, the Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Florence, and the Kingdom of Naples, following the Tr ...

, with Athletic Genova and

Virtus Bologna Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna, known for sponsorship reasons as Virtus Segafredo Bologna, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna. The club was founded in 1929, which makes it the oldest club in Italy and one ...

. He retired in 1989.

National team career

Leite first suited up with Brazil's senior national team at the age of 18, at the 1970 FIBA World Cup. "Marquinhos" played sparingly during that tournament, as he scored 6 points in 4 games, as Brazil won the tournament's silver medal. Leite remained on the Brazilian national team, and was one of the team's top players, as they won the gold medal at the

1971 Pan American Games * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Jan ...

, a year later. Leite averaged 16 points per game, at the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics. He also represented Brazil at the

1974 FIBA World Cup The 1974 FIBA World Championship was the 7th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's teams. It was hosted by Puerto Rico from July 3 to 14, 1974. The tournament was won by the Soviet Union. Venues Comp ...

, and the

1975 Pan American Games The 1975 Pan American Games were held in Mexico City, Mexico, from October 12 to October 26, 1975, exactly twenty years after the second Pan American Games were held there. It was the third major sporting event held in the Mexican capital in seve ...

. In later years, he was also a part of Brazil's

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

and 1982 FIBA World Cup squads, and their

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

and

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

teams.

References

External links

FIBA ProfilesItalian League Profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leite, Marcos 1952 births Living people Athletic Genova basketball players Basketball players at the 1971 Pan American Games Basketball players at the 1972 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1975 Pan American Games Basketball players at the 1979 Pan American Games Basketball players at the 1980 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1983 Pan American Games Basketball players at the 1984 Summer Olympics Brazilian basketball coaches Brazilian expatriate basketball people in the United States Brazilian expatriates in Italy Brazilian men's basketball players 1970 FIBA World Championship players 1974 FIBA World Championship players 1978 FIBA World Championship players 1982 FIBA World Championship players Centers (basketball) Esporte Clube Sírio basketball players Expatriate basketball people in Italy Flamengo basketball players Franca Basquetebol Clube players Medalists at the 1971 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games Olympic basketball players for Brazil Pan American Games bronze medalists for Brazil Pan American Games gold medalists for Brazil Pan American Games medalists in basketball Pan American Games silver medalists for Brazil Pepperdine Waves men's basketball players Portland Trail Blazers draft picks Power forwards (basketball) Sport Club Corinthians Paulista basketball players Vila Nova Basquete Clube players Virtus Bologna players Basketball players from Rio de Janeiro (city)