Having an uncle who played college basketball at Notre Dame has helped Markese Peoples’ game.
Peoples, a junior guard at St. Laurence, said he learned a lot from his uncle, Jonathan Peoples, who was a star at now-shuttered St. Joseph and played 130 games at Notre Dame.
“He’s one of the people who I look up to and one of the people who taught me to play basketball when I was younger,” Markese said. “I really just try to model my game after him.
“My mother (Alicia Jackson) got me into the game when I was 7, and I would copy what my uncle was doing every single day.”
Jonathan was a strong 6-3 guard in college who was usually a spark off the bench and was able to grab rebounds as well as dish out assists.
Markese is copying having a multi-dimensional game for St. Laurence as he was named the Most Valuable Player at the Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic.
The 6-foot-2 Peoples had 24 points, 10 rebounds, four steals and two assists in the Vikings’ 58-46 win over Catholic League rival Brother Rice in the championship game of the tournament on Dec. 30. Reggie Stevens added 13 points and Jeremiah Toney 11 for the Vikings, who finished the week at 14-2 after losing to Peoria Richwoods on Jan. 4.
All-tournament player Adam McBrearty had 21 points for Brother Rice (11-4 through Jan. 4), while Aiden Henderson chipped in with 11.
It was St. Laurence’s first appearance in the tournament.
While Jonathan was able to land a Division I scholarship in the mid-2000s, Markese is working hard on slimming down and getting stronger to try to attract more coaches’ eyes.
He’s working on his outside game as some of the strong inside moves he is making now might not translate in the major-college level against solid 6-foot-8 and taller opponents.
St. Laurence coach Roshawn Russell said, “I think it’s there,” when asked if Peoples can play Division I hoops.
“You can’t stop him going to the basket,” Russell said of Peoples. “Colleges are asking what position he plays — he’s a basketball player.
“You put him on the floor and he’s going to figure it out.”
St. Laurence beat Wheaton Academy, Burlington Central and Rockford Auburn en route to the final.
The Crusaders opened the tournament by beating Lane, Maine South and Morgan Park.
The two Catholic League rivals will face each other again on Jan. 14 in Chicago.
Russell would have preferred not to have faced Brother Rice twice in a short amount of time, but it wasn’t all bad.
“We’re coaching for the kids and for the kids, this is exciting,” Russell said. “Any time you play against a rival, it’s exciting. If you can play 10 times, let’s do it.
“For two Catholic League school teams to be in the championship in a tournament like this is great for the league as well.”