Graduating One Day, Schooling Opponents the Next
Dec 12, 2022 | Men's Basketball, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
He sauntered through Bramlage Coliseum on Saturday in gown and tassel and with a smile and diploma in hand, then he returned less than 24 hours later with a basketball in hand and with an eye to dominate. The newly-graduated Markquis Nowell continues to cover every box like filling out a scantron. Yet the 5-foot-8, 160 pound Kansas State point guard still has more to learn — about himself and about this Wildcats' team, which has sailed to a 9-1 record with a date against Nebraska on Saturday at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
"It's funny because I never have a good game at T-Mobile Center," Nowell says. "I'll be happy to be in that arena because I know that's the place for the Big 12 Tournament, so any chance I get to be there one extra time is always good.
"I'm going to try to get real comfortable and acquainted with that arena so by the Big 12 Tournament I'll play really good."
The T-Mobile Center is where Nowell attended Big 12 Basketball Media Days back in October, back when coaches picked K-State to finish 10th out of 10 teams in the league. The T-Mobile Center is where Nowell posed with new teammates Keyontae Johnson and Nae'Qwan Tomlin, their confident smiles etched upon ESPN cameras. The T-Mobile Center is where Nowell pledged his belief in first-year K-State head coach Jerome Tang, who with a 98-50 win over Incarnate Word on Sunday in Manhattan became the only first-year coach in school history to start a season with a 9-1 record.
Nowell, of course, joined junior forward Ismael Massoud as the only returning K-State players from a year ago. They spent hot summer days shooting and bonding with Tang and the new coaching staff. It's paying off.
"Thing have changed drastically," Nowell says. "You see a lot of changes in the energy and in the new coaching staff, but my mindset never changes. My mindset is to win. From the start of last year to the start of this year, my mindset has always been to win for K-State, win for the coaching staff, embrace the culture here and win a Big 12 Championship.
"That's always been my mindset."
Nowell stands in the corridor outside of the men's home locker room at Bramlage about half an hour after the win over Incarnate Word. He wears a purple K-State parka over a purple Nike full-zip track jacket. "KANSAS STATE WILDCATS" is written in bold white print down the left leg of black sweatpants.
It was another day at the office for Nowell, who had 10 points, eight assists, five rebounds and one steal in 23 minutes.
Numbers on this particular day just don't mean as much as the blessings waiting for him on the basketball court at Bramlage — his father, mother, and brother traveled from Harlem, New York, to share in Nowell's grand moment of walking to accept his diploma, and watched him play in Bramlage for the first time in his two seasons with the Wildcats.
Marcus Nowell looks at his son as he heads out of the tunnel.
"Love," Marcus says. "It's full of love. Markquis has been through a lot of different obstacles in his life. This has been the most enjoyable time here at this school. It's love."
The family poses for a photo at Bramlage for the second time in 24 hours.
Click. Click. Click.
Nowell has made plenty of memories during his time in Manhattan, and this assuredly rests among the greatest of them all.
"When I got inside Bramlage for graduation, I started getting jittery and anxious," Nowell says. "You know, it was just a good moment, a surreal moment, because where I come from, you're not expected to graduate and you're not expected to do big things. I'm just proud to make my parents happy."
"He's the third person in my whole family to graduate," Marcus says. "It was super special for me. I can't even explain the emotions going through me right now to watch him get a diploma. Then he's back here playing a game the next day, and that's just Markquis. There are no distractions. He comes out here and he works hard and he has a plan before a plan. He's been doing this since he was 7 so this is normal."
Father and son used to visit different basketball parks around Harlem to work on Markquis' skills. Markquis would make 25 straight 3-pointers. He was 10 years old.
"If he didn't make 25, we'd go back to zero and start over again," Marcus says. "I told him in order to play Division I basketball he had to shoot the ball. He was undersized. The first thing I told him was to shoot the basketball. They had this stigma with New York City point guards that they couldn't shoot. I wanted Markquis to erase that stigma immediately.
"Yes, sun up to sun down we used to dribble the ball and shoot 3s."
Nowell's personal motto is "Heart Over Height" and his Twitter handle @MrNewYorkCityy tells the tale of his journey and self-confidence. And yes, it's difficult to nail down the last time K-State had such a unique player. Maybe Denis Clemente? And like Clemente, Nowell has more than personality, he's a sparkplug ready to fire at any moment, and he calls himself "an entertainer." Nowell is a ball of muscle, who launches 5o-pound medicine balls 20 feet into the air (there are witnesses) and has cat-like quickness and handles and vision and can glide baseline, switch hands underneath the rim, hang and toss the ball high off the glass, then jog down the court as the ball trickled in. He's king of the no-look pass. There's simply no off switch — if there is, nobody has been able to locate it yet.
He's a 5-foot-8, 160-pound senior leader who's steadily and smoothly shifted things into another gear during his second season in Manhattan, who's graduated from learning one system as a junior to darned near, might we say, almost mastering this system under Tang, emitting confidence with each step along the hardwood and inside the same arena where he sat in cap and gown less than 24 hours before, reaching a major personal milestone — receiving a college degree — while schooling the opposition one day later.
"I feel like I'm definitely pushing new levels," Nowell says. "It's a different atmosphere and a different team. I'm one of the few guys who stayed. I've been put into a leadership role that I'm trying to embrace and take over and I'm really trying to do my job in that role. Each and every day I'm just finding a different way to get better and a new way to lead.
"It's just leading to success."
At a time when competition is about to ramp up with Saturday's date against Nebraska at T-Mobile Arena — and with the Big 12 Conference opener against West Virginia looming on the final day of 2022 — it's impossible not to pause at the November and December calendar pages and appreciate the climb, how Nowell followed a 12-point, 12-assist performance against Rhode Island with a 29-point, 11-assist effort against Nevada, becoming the first player since Steve Henson in 1989 to go for 25 and 11 in a game, and the first player in school history to record back-to-back points and assists double-doubles.
Or how Mr. New York City scorched Abilene Christian for 15 points, a season-high six rebounds, a season high-tying 12 assists, and three steals last Tuesday. Or how he has demonstrated consistency this season (he entered Sunday ranked second in Division I with 8.2 assists) and consistency in his five seasons (he is the only active Division I player with 1,000 points, 500 assist and 200 steals in a career). Or how he already has stepped into K-State lore (he's the fastest in school history to reach 200 assists).
"That's special," Nowell says. "All the hard work that I've put in each and every day is paying off. I'm just really humbled by it. I give all the honor and glory to God because without Him none of this would be possible. I'm just going to continue to put one foot in front of the other and see what the future holds."
And there will more for Nowell to conquer, but at the moment, appreciate the young man in his element. Nowell shows up 120 minutes prior to tipoff to get up shots — form shots, free throws and 3-pointers. Lots of 3-pointers. It's a sight to behold, how he tickles the net before teammates take the court. It's the extra work that he talks about that might help him to reach another new level.
"I'm a big routine guy," he says. "I love routines. Early last year I came up with a routine that I was going to work out 45 minutes before anybody got here and that stuck with me. I started having good games. It just never left. That's one of the routines I'm really strict on. I really like doing it.
"Every time I step into Bramlage, it feels like home. I put in a lot of work here. We do a lot of activities here, so whenever I'm here, I'm comfortable.
"It's just like being home."
You might remember the story, how Mr. New York City began his time at K-State as a sixth man a year ago, then started in place of injured Nijel Pack (concussion), and emerged as the most comfortable player on the floor, with 11 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists against Marquette, nearly becoming the first player in school history to record a triple-double in points, rebounds and assists. Through the first nine games last season, he led the team in double-digit scoring games, assists and steals, and ranked second in scoring, field goals and 3-pointers.
And this, too, how Nowell starred at point guard at Bishop Loughlin High School in Brooklyn and then at The Patrick School in Hillsdale, New Jersey — alma mater of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (Dallas Mavericks) and Kyrie Irving (Brooklyn Nets). Then he began his college career averaging 14.4 points per game and ranked eighth all-time with 139 3-pointers at Arkansas Little-Rock. He also was their best free-throw shooter (85.7%) in history. He earned Lou Henson All-American and first team All-Sun Belt honors in 2019-20.
He knew former K-State player and assistant coach Shane Southwell, a NYC native, for years. When Nowell entered the transfer portal, K-State was a virtual no-brainer.
Which brings us to now.
And Marcus is blown away.
"I mean, everybody here is like family," Marcus says. "Anybody who wants to bring their kid to K-State, I recommend it, because you're going to be embraced with love from this family. And I love it."
There is much more to come for Nowell before the curtains close on his remarkable career. You already know he'll kiss center court. But there are battles ahead, great battles, and Bramlage will turn into the Octagon of Doom and will explode, as Nowell dishes off to Tomlin for a dunk or hits Johnson with a perfect pass for a 3-pointer, or creates his own shot in the lane. That's exciting. And the excitement continues to build for Nowell, Tang, and this team.
Yet for now, the court is empty, the arena is empty, and there's Nowell, putting it all into perspective, proverbially leaning over to his 10-year-old self, the kid with the basketball on the court in Harlem, telling him what the future holds if he keeps getting up shots.
"I'd tell myself to just keep doing what you're doing," he says. "My brother, father and supporting cast has done a good job with me with staying focused. Each and every day I woke up and put basketball first. I put in a lot of hours to work on my game.
"Yeah, if I looked back at my 10-year-old self, I'd just tell him to keep working.
"The future is bright."
He sauntered through Bramlage Coliseum on Saturday in gown and tassel and with a smile and diploma in hand, then he returned less than 24 hours later with a basketball in hand and with an eye to dominate. The newly-graduated Markquis Nowell continues to cover every box like filling out a scantron. Yet the 5-foot-8, 160 pound Kansas State point guard still has more to learn — about himself and about this Wildcats' team, which has sailed to a 9-1 record with a date against Nebraska on Saturday at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
"It's funny because I never have a good game at T-Mobile Center," Nowell says. "I'll be happy to be in that arena because I know that's the place for the Big 12 Tournament, so any chance I get to be there one extra time is always good.
"I'm going to try to get real comfortable and acquainted with that arena so by the Big 12 Tournament I'll play really good."
The T-Mobile Center is where Nowell attended Big 12 Basketball Media Days back in October, back when coaches picked K-State to finish 10th out of 10 teams in the league. The T-Mobile Center is where Nowell posed with new teammates Keyontae Johnson and Nae'Qwan Tomlin, their confident smiles etched upon ESPN cameras. The T-Mobile Center is where Nowell pledged his belief in first-year K-State head coach Jerome Tang, who with a 98-50 win over Incarnate Word on Sunday in Manhattan became the only first-year coach in school history to start a season with a 9-1 record.
Nowell, of course, joined junior forward Ismael Massoud as the only returning K-State players from a year ago. They spent hot summer days shooting and bonding with Tang and the new coaching staff. It's paying off.
"Thing have changed drastically," Nowell says. "You see a lot of changes in the energy and in the new coaching staff, but my mindset never changes. My mindset is to win. From the start of last year to the start of this year, my mindset has always been to win for K-State, win for the coaching staff, embrace the culture here and win a Big 12 Championship.
"That's always been my mindset."
Nowell stands in the corridor outside of the men's home locker room at Bramlage about half an hour after the win over Incarnate Word. He wears a purple K-State parka over a purple Nike full-zip track jacket. "KANSAS STATE WILDCATS" is written in bold white print down the left leg of black sweatpants.
It was another day at the office for Nowell, who had 10 points, eight assists, five rebounds and one steal in 23 minutes.
Numbers on this particular day just don't mean as much as the blessings waiting for him on the basketball court at Bramlage — his father, mother, and brother traveled from Harlem, New York, to share in Nowell's grand moment of walking to accept his diploma, and watched him play in Bramlage for the first time in his two seasons with the Wildcats.
Marcus Nowell looks at his son as he heads out of the tunnel.
"Love," Marcus says. "It's full of love. Markquis has been through a lot of different obstacles in his life. This has been the most enjoyable time here at this school. It's love."
The family poses for a photo at Bramlage for the second time in 24 hours.
Click. Click. Click.
Nowell has made plenty of memories during his time in Manhattan, and this assuredly rests among the greatest of them all.
"When I got inside Bramlage for graduation, I started getting jittery and anxious," Nowell says. "You know, it was just a good moment, a surreal moment, because where I come from, you're not expected to graduate and you're not expected to do big things. I'm just proud to make my parents happy."
Marcus couldn't be prouder. He sits in a stocking cap and watery eyes.Graduated From The Best School On Earth! Proud To Be A Wildcat 🌏💜 #EMAW pic.twitter.com/TZplo1djwL
— Markquis Nowell (@MrNewYorkCityy) December 10, 2022
"He's the third person in my whole family to graduate," Marcus says. "It was super special for me. I can't even explain the emotions going through me right now to watch him get a diploma. Then he's back here playing a game the next day, and that's just Markquis. There are no distractions. He comes out here and he works hard and he has a plan before a plan. He's been doing this since he was 7 so this is normal."
Father and son used to visit different basketball parks around Harlem to work on Markquis' skills. Markquis would make 25 straight 3-pointers. He was 10 years old.
"If he didn't make 25, we'd go back to zero and start over again," Marcus says. "I told him in order to play Division I basketball he had to shoot the ball. He was undersized. The first thing I told him was to shoot the basketball. They had this stigma with New York City point guards that they couldn't shoot. I wanted Markquis to erase that stigma immediately.
"Yes, sun up to sun down we used to dribble the ball and shoot 3s."
Nowell's personal motto is "Heart Over Height" and his Twitter handle @MrNewYorkCityy tells the tale of his journey and self-confidence. And yes, it's difficult to nail down the last time K-State had such a unique player. Maybe Denis Clemente? And like Clemente, Nowell has more than personality, he's a sparkplug ready to fire at any moment, and he calls himself "an entertainer." Nowell is a ball of muscle, who launches 5o-pound medicine balls 20 feet into the air (there are witnesses) and has cat-like quickness and handles and vision and can glide baseline, switch hands underneath the rim, hang and toss the ball high off the glass, then jog down the court as the ball trickled in. He's king of the no-look pass. There's simply no off switch — if there is, nobody has been able to locate it yet.
He's a 5-foot-8, 160-pound senior leader who's steadily and smoothly shifted things into another gear during his second season in Manhattan, who's graduated from learning one system as a junior to darned near, might we say, almost mastering this system under Tang, emitting confidence with each step along the hardwood and inside the same arena where he sat in cap and gown less than 24 hours before, reaching a major personal milestone — receiving a college degree — while schooling the opposition one day later.
"I feel like I'm definitely pushing new levels," Nowell says. "It's a different atmosphere and a different team. I'm one of the few guys who stayed. I've been put into a leadership role that I'm trying to embrace and take over and I'm really trying to do my job in that role. Each and every day I'm just finding a different way to get better and a new way to lead.
"It's just leading to success."
At a time when competition is about to ramp up with Saturday's date against Nebraska at T-Mobile Arena — and with the Big 12 Conference opener against West Virginia looming on the final day of 2022 — it's impossible not to pause at the November and December calendar pages and appreciate the climb, how Nowell followed a 12-point, 12-assist performance against Rhode Island with a 29-point, 11-assist effort against Nevada, becoming the first player since Steve Henson in 1989 to go for 25 and 11 in a game, and the first player in school history to record back-to-back points and assists double-doubles.
Or how Mr. New York City scorched Abilene Christian for 15 points, a season-high six rebounds, a season high-tying 12 assists, and three steals last Tuesday. Or how he has demonstrated consistency this season (he entered Sunday ranked second in Division I with 8.2 assists) and consistency in his five seasons (he is the only active Division I player with 1,000 points, 500 assist and 200 steals in a career). Or how he already has stepped into K-State lore (he's the fastest in school history to reach 200 assists).
"That's special," Nowell says. "All the hard work that I've put in each and every day is paying off. I'm just really humbled by it. I give all the honor and glory to God because without Him none of this would be possible. I'm just going to continue to put one foot in front of the other and see what the future holds."
And there will more for Nowell to conquer, but at the moment, appreciate the young man in his element. Nowell shows up 120 minutes prior to tipoff to get up shots — form shots, free throws and 3-pointers. Lots of 3-pointers. It's a sight to behold, how he tickles the net before teammates take the court. It's the extra work that he talks about that might help him to reach another new level.
"I'm a big routine guy," he says. "I love routines. Early last year I came up with a routine that I was going to work out 45 minutes before anybody got here and that stuck with me. I started having good games. It just never left. That's one of the routines I'm really strict on. I really like doing it.
"Every time I step into Bramlage, it feels like home. I put in a lot of work here. We do a lot of activities here, so whenever I'm here, I'm comfortable.
"It's just like being home."
You might remember the story, how Mr. New York City began his time at K-State as a sixth man a year ago, then started in place of injured Nijel Pack (concussion), and emerged as the most comfortable player on the floor, with 11 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists against Marquette, nearly becoming the first player in school history to record a triple-double in points, rebounds and assists. Through the first nine games last season, he led the team in double-digit scoring games, assists and steals, and ranked second in scoring, field goals and 3-pointers.
And this, too, how Nowell starred at point guard at Bishop Loughlin High School in Brooklyn and then at The Patrick School in Hillsdale, New Jersey — alma mater of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (Dallas Mavericks) and Kyrie Irving (Brooklyn Nets). Then he began his college career averaging 14.4 points per game and ranked eighth all-time with 139 3-pointers at Arkansas Little-Rock. He also was their best free-throw shooter (85.7%) in history. He earned Lou Henson All-American and first team All-Sun Belt honors in 2019-20.
He knew former K-State player and assistant coach Shane Southwell, a NYC native, for years. When Nowell entered the transfer portal, K-State was a virtual no-brainer.
Which brings us to now.
And Marcus is blown away.
"I mean, everybody here is like family," Marcus says. "Anybody who wants to bring their kid to K-State, I recommend it, because you're going to be embraced with love from this family. And I love it."
There is much more to come for Nowell before the curtains close on his remarkable career. You already know he'll kiss center court. But there are battles ahead, great battles, and Bramlage will turn into the Octagon of Doom and will explode, as Nowell dishes off to Tomlin for a dunk or hits Johnson with a perfect pass for a 3-pointer, or creates his own shot in the lane. That's exciting. And the excitement continues to build for Nowell, Tang, and this team.
Yet for now, the court is empty, the arena is empty, and there's Nowell, putting it all into perspective, proverbially leaning over to his 10-year-old self, the kid with the basketball on the court in Harlem, telling him what the future holds if he keeps getting up shots.
"I'd tell myself to just keep doing what you're doing," he says. "My brother, father and supporting cast has done a good job with me with staying focused. Each and every day I woke up and put basketball first. I put in a lot of hours to work on my game.
"Yeah, if I looked back at my 10-year-old self, I'd just tell him to keep working.
"The future is bright."
Players Mentioned
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