St. Joseph freshman Marquise Walker has been dealing with high expectations pretty much from the day he could walk.
His basketball skills at an early age helped him become a YouTube sensation when he was 8 years old, garnering the attention of NBA players and ESPN, which featured him in a segment called YouTube Baby.
While the attention has been a constant in his life, the St. Joseph starting point guard is trying to adjust to basketball at a high school level.
“Starting on varsity is very difficult, but the transition has been exactly what I thought it would be,” Walker said. “I knew it wasn’t going to be easy or hard. You just have to get adjusted to the speed. You have to think faster, shoot faster and everything is just a little faster.”
The 5-foot-10 Melrose Park resident is averaging around 10 points a game, but he’s had some ups and downs.
That was evident in St. Joseph’s 73-51 loss to Fenwick in the Catholic League Tournament championship game on Saturday, Feb. 20, at DePaul’s McGrath-Phillips Arena in Chicago. Fenwick is ranked No. 2 by the Chicago Tribune, and St. Joseph coach Gene Pingatore said inconsistent play will be “more glaring” against top-tier teams.
Walker was quickly pulled from the game early in the second quarter after committing turnovers on back-to-back possessions, but Walker responded by scoring seven of his 12 points in the third quarter. Pingatore said inconsistent play could also be seen on defense and with shot selection, but he was quick to say this is natural for a freshman.
“The deal with Marquise is not only the mental stuff, but the intensity stuff,” Pingatore said. “He’s not playing at the level he should be playing at all the time. He’s got to learn that. You have to crank it up when you’re playing a championship game and now the state tournament. You can’t be playing at the same level you’ve been playing all year. He has progressed all season, though.”
Pingatore also noted that Walker doesn’t have the luxury of playing behind an older teammate. He doesn’t sit on the bench for long stretches of the game and have the opportunity to learn by watching a senior leader.
Walker prepared for his first varsity season at St. Joseph through an unorthodox path.
He moved to Bowling Green, Kentucky and was a varsity starter for South Warren High School as an eighth grader and averaged 11 points, six assists and two steals. Middle school students are allowed to play high school basketball in Kentucky.
“I think it helped because I got a little used to varsity,” said Walker, who averaged 35 points as a seventh grader at Stevenson Middle School in Melrose Park. “It’s not as fast as Chicago ball, but it helped. I lost a little bit of weight and got a little faster.”
Senior Nick Rakocevic, considered by many as the state’s top uncommitted senior, has no doubt that Walker has a bright future ahead of him, but was candid in his assessment of the promising freshman.
“He’ll be special, but he’s got to listen,” said Rakocevic, who had 21 points and 17 rebounds against Fenwick. “He needs to keep working and kind of buy into the system. Once he does that he’ll be so much better as a player, and we’ll be that much better as a team. You definitely see a lot of his potential.”
Walker appreciates the support he’s received from his teammates, even if critical at times.
“My teammates are always there for me and tell me what to do,” Walker said. “We have our times where we may seem discombobulated, but we communicate very well. I’m trying to get my teammates involved. I can’t do anything without them. I’m trying to lead the team and do what I can to help us win.”
Ken Ryan is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @KenRyan15
