Memories

Over the years I have had the opportunity to coach many talented kids. Whether it is was basketball or track & field there are certain kids who stand out athletically more than others.

I was fortunate enough early in my career to coach a young man named Trent McNeely who would go onto to be an all-state basketball player at Ann Arbor Greenhills, Jesse Davis who went on to be an all-stater in basketball at Willow Run. Any coach could tell that those young kids were going to be great players.

Mutli-sport athletes like Flat Rock's Tom Oestrike were always great to be around. Oestrike was an excellent quarterback, all-state pitcher and one of the best all round basketball players I have ever coached. His 6'5" size with long range shooting ability made him a tough match-up for teams.

As the varsity basketball coach at Dearborn Advanced Technology Academy afforded me the opportunity to coach a 6'7" player named Jeremy Beasley who would go onto to play hoop at Lake Superior State.

Throw in athletes like Devan Crain who was an all state basketball player and an all-state hurdler at Flat Rock along with Joe Conner who excelled in football, basketball and most certainly track and I'll say I have it pretty good over the years.

With all these great athletes that I have had the opportunity to coach, one kid really stands out. Many around the Huron League probably don't recognize this name or remember him but his name is Marcos Williams.

I met Marcos while coaching JV basketball at Huron in the mid-90's. Marcos was a skinny 6'1" guard type who had a silky smooth jump shot and a never ending vertical jump. I had Marcos on my JV squad for exactly 3 games that season. He was swiftly taken up to the varsity team after averaging 31 points in those first 3 games. Marcos came off the bench his first varsity game but started every game the rest of the season. He averaged a cool 12 points and 6 rebounds while taking a backseat to the seniors on the Chief squad.

Marcos's junior year was a special one. He was named first team All-Huron League, All Region for Monroe County and made the News Herald All-Downriver team while averaging just over 20 points and 10 rebounds a game. Marcos was forced to play inside because of the talent level of the team but managed to knock down a ton of three-pointers that season. Marcos was a fun kid to be around, he was always pleasant and just wanted to play hoop.

In the Spring of Marcos junior year I ran into him in New Boston as I was about to get breakfast. He sat down with me and we spent an hour together. I asked Marcos why he wasn't in school and he told me he had been kicked out for excessive absences. I calmly asked him why he had been missing school and he said he hadn't missed a day all semester. He went on to explain to me that he had been tardy over 30 times that semester and 3 tardies equaled one absence, eleven absences meant expulsion.

As I questioned Marcos why he was tardy that many times he told me he would arrive to school 10 minutes late most mornings because he was responsible for getting his younger brother on the school bus. Both his parents worked early and if he didn't get his sibling on the bus to elementary school he wouldn't get on by himself. Now I'm not naive enough to believe that was the whole story, but when I questioned the Vice-Principal at Huron he confirmed that it was the tardies that led to his expulsion

Because of his expulsion that year Marcos ended up inelgible for the first semester of his senior year, without basketball his grades faltered and he missed the entire year. One of the best players that Huron had ever had was done with his career.

I only saw Marcos a handful of times after his high school days. He was the same kid, always happy and always friendly to me and wanting to talk.

I hadn't thought about Marcos for some time until my father stopped by the house about a week or so ago. He had an obituary in his hand. Marcos had passed away at the young age of 33 years. Marcos stilled lived in New Boston and was the father of three children.

If I was a betting man, I'm sure Marcos could still play at the age of 33. He was unlike any player to ever wear the red and white of a Huron Chief. He could stroke it from 25 feet, attack the basket, hit a pull up "J", or dunk right over you. He was also a fierce rebounder and an excellent defender. Although I hadn't seen him in over 10 years, I'll miss Marcos, but at least I have the memories.