Christopher Lee Marcus (December 11, 1979 – April 23, 2020) was an American basketball player, best known for his collegiate career at

Western Kentucky University Western Kentucky University (WKU) is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky, United States. It was founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a few decades earlier. It operates regional campuses in Glas ...

between 1999–2000 and 2002–03.

Early life

Marcus was born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

but raised in

Charlotte Charlotte most commonly refers to: *Charlotte (given name), a feminine form of the given name Charles ** Princess Charlotte (disambiguation) ** Queen Charlotte (disambiguation) *Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, a city * Charlotte (cake) ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. He grew extremely quickly; by sixth grade he was , in seventh he was , and in eighth grade Marcus stood tall. By the time he was soundly into his

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

career, Marcus was a certified seven-footer. However, he did not begin playing basketball until the school's new head coach, David Davis, convinced him to play for the team. After former Clemson coach

Dennis Felton Dennis Alan Felton (born June 21, 1963) is an American basketball coach who is an assistant coach at Providence College. His previous positions included a stint as the associate head coach at George Mason University under then-head coach Kim En ...

became head coach at

Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...

, he recruited Marcus to play for him.

Career

As a true

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

in 1998–99 at

, Marcus did not play basketball in order to focus on his grades. When Marcus started playing for the team, he averaged 11.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game en route to being named the Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year and Defender of the Year. The following season, Marcus's

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educatio ...

season, he led the Hilltoppers in scoring at 16.7 points per game, and his 12.1 rebounds per game led all of

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Division I. Western Kentucky compiled a 24–7 record, winning the Sun Belt regular season and conference tournament championships, on their way to an NCAA Tournament berth. During Marcus's last two years at WKU, a pre-season injury to his ankle sidelined him for months during his

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

year. After rushing his rehabilitation, Marcus only lasted half of his

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

season before he returned to

. During his final two years of college, Marcus developed an addiction to alcohol. Marcus participated in the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

training camp, but never played a game in the

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

Awards and honors

*Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year (1999–00) *Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year (1999–00) *Sun Belt Tournament MVP ( 2000–01) * NCAA rebounding leader (2000–01) *

Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year The Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year is an award given to the most outstanding men's basketball player in the Sun Belt Conference (SBC). The award was first given following the conference's first basketball season of 1976–7 ...

(2000–01) *2×

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Honorable Mention All-American (2000–01, 2001–02) *

Lindy's Lindy's was two different deli and restaurant chains in Manhattan, New York City. The first chain, founded by Leo "Lindy" Lindemann, operated from 1921 to 1969.("Opening date was Aug. 20, 1921.") In 1979, the Riese Organization determined that ...

College Basketball All-America Team (2001)

Personal life

Marcus joined

Alcoholics Anonymous Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a global, peer-led Mutual aid, mutual-aid fellowship focused on an abstinence-based recovery model from alcoholism through its spiritually inclined twelve-step program. AA's Twelve Traditions, besides emphasizing anon ...

(AA) in 2005 and overcame his addiction to alcohol. He remained active in AA for the rest of his life and had a career as a counselor for children with disabilities or behavioral issues, declining offers to return to basketball as a coach. Marcus died on April 23, 2020, in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

from a

pulmonary embolism Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blockage of an pulmonary artery, artery in the lungs by a substance that has moved from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream (embolism). Symptoms of a PE may include dyspnea, shortness of breath, chest pain ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marcus, Chris 1979 births 2020 deaths American men's basketball players Basketball players from Charlotte, North Carolina Basketball players from Chicago Centers (basketball) Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball players