![]() “I remember that shot as if it was yesterday. In the quarterfinals of the Class A West tournament, he sank an 8-foot baseline jumper with seven seconds left to give South Portland a 51-49 win over Kennebunk. Markwood became an integral piece of the Red Riots almost immediately. “They all said, ‘Finally!'” DiBiase recalled.Ĭhris Markwood was a 1,000-point scorer at South Portland High and won Mr. DiBiase held a meeting with his seniors and explained that he was promoting Markwood to varsity, and how he could help the team. But Tony DiBiase, the coach at the time, saw how well Markwood shot the ball, and knew his varsity team was missing that perimeter scoring threat. Markwood began his freshman season playing in freshman and junior varsity games. The family came back to Maine, settling in South Portland, shortly before the start of the basketball season during Markwood’s freshman year of high school.Īt the time, few freshmen or sophomores made the varsity boys’ basketball team at South Portland High. Markwood spent much of his youth living on Peaks Island before moving in junior high to Ortonville, Minnesota, where his mother, Alison Jacobs, became pastor of a church. “He’s going to get some good players some people don’t think they should get (at Maine).” “He’s going to elevate Maine’s players,” Grant said. He was impressed with Markwood’s calm sideline demeanor during tight games. The women’s team has made six consecutive trips to the conference finals and two appearances in the NCAA tournament during that stretch.īoston College Coach Earl Grant hired Markwood as an assistant coach last season because of his strong recruiting ties in the Northeast. The men’s team plays in the shadow of the successful UMaine women’s basketball team, which averaged 1,032 fans for its home games last season, nearly double the men’s attendance (590). The Black Bears, who open the 2022-23 season Monday night at the University of Nebraska, have not won an American East Conference tournament game since 2005, Markwood’s senior season. It was Maine’s 12th consecutive season with a losing record. Last season, the Black Bears went 6-22, with just three wins coming against NCAA Division I opponents. A former captain of team he now coaches, Markwood is trying to take the Black Bears someplace they’ve never been: the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Basketball as a senior before playing in college as a point guard, first at Notre Dame, then at UMaine. We can’t ask them to come yet and not put out a product they can be proud of and want to cheer.”Ī 2000 graduate of South Portland High, Markwood was Maine’s Mr. “If we do that, I know they’re going to come support us. “It’s our job to get this program to the point where people want to come and support it,” said Markwood, 40, the first-year coach of a UMaine men’s basketball team that has struggled for more than a decade. ![]()
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