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Marcus Littles developing into star for Academy of New Church

12/30/2015, 4:30pm EST
By Aron Minkoff

ANC big man Marcus Littles (35) picked up his first Division I offer earlier this month, from Saint Joseph's. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Aron Minkoff (@AronMinkoff)
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Marcus Littles didn’t always like playing basketball.

He played just about every sport during his childhood - soccer, baseball, football and track -  before settling on basketball as his calling.

It is easy to see why he chose basketball. The 6-foot-9 Academy of New Church forward absolutely towers over the competition.

“Starting off I didn’t like basketball because I would play with older kids and I would get destroyed,” Littles said. “It took me about a summer to really work on foundations, fundamentals and stuff like that. Then I started playing AAU and I loved it. I loved being around my teammates. I loved playing ball and after that it was kinda like a passion.”

That passion has blossomed into something quite special for Littles. Just last month, the talented sophomore earned his first Division I scholarship offer, to St. Joseph’s.

In front of the Hawks’ coach, Phil Martelli, Littles showed a brief glimpse of how promising his future is.

He finished with six points and nine rebounds in ACN’s 61-45 win over Life Center Academy (N.J.). Playing with foul trouble, Littles showed flashes of what he can do, when he is on the floor. He finished with four fouls, adding to what has been a running theme this season, foul trouble.

“We are working on his maturity, he needs to grow up, he needs to stop getting in foul trouble,” ANC coach Kevin Givens said.

It is not an easy fix, but there are some things that Littles is working on to help alleviate that problem.

“We are working on his footwork to get quicker around the basket,” Givens said. “A lot of times he is playing against someone who is 6-foot-3, 6-foot-4 and guys move around him and he ends up in foul trouble because he can’t move as quick as those guys.”

One of the many things that Littles does well is connect on shots away from the basket. Early on in the game against Life Center he displayed that when he hit a jumper 15 feet away from the hoop.

The ability to stretch the floor is a rare trait in big men, it is something that every coach wants, so it is no surprise that he is receiving interest from the Division I level.

With the St. Joseph’s offer already under his belt, Littles mentioned that he has been in contact with Virginia a lot, and has received letters from Villanova and Memphis.

“I think he can be a top-50 player in the country,” Givens said. “So, we’ll see, he is only a sophomore so he has a lot of time to work on things. One of things we are trying to work on with him is toning his body up, getting him ready for college basketball.”

Littles is still in the early stages of his development, but his frame gives him such a strong base. With two-and-a-half more years to go at the high school level, it is a scary thought on what his ceiling could be if he polishes his game, and he knows what he needs to work on.

“I need to get in shape, my footwork is something I wanna work on a lot and just determining when to take shots, when not to take shots, when to pass it out and stuff like that,” Littles said.

It does not hurt that the Philadelphia native has basketball in his blood, His father Marcus, is 6-foot-5 and played high school basketball. While his mother did not play herself, she watched from the sidelines as a cheerleader.

While basketball might not have been his first choice, it certainly is turning out well for him thus far. Who knows though, if things had gone a little bit differently in his childhood, we may be watching Marcus Little the soccer star, or perhaps the baseball star instead of the budding basketball beast at Academy of the New Church.
 


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