Leonel Marquetti (born June 30, 1959) is a Cuban-American former

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans (also Southern California Trojans) are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ...

and

Hampton Pirates The Hampton Pirates and Lady Pirates refer to the sports teams representing Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia in intercollegiate athletics. The Pirates and Lady Pirates compete in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS ...

. Marquetti was selected in the

1981 NBA draft The 1981 NBA draft was the 35th annual NBA draft, draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on June 9, 1981, before the 1981–82 NBA season, 1981–82 season. The draft was broadcast in the United States on the NBA ...

by the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

but never played in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA). In 2011, Marquetti was sentenced to

life in prison Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life imprisonment are co ...

for the 2010 murder of his ex-girlfriend's

handyman A handyman, also known as a fixer, handyperson or handyworker, maintenance worker, maintenance man, repairman, repair worker, or repair technician, is a person who is knowledgeable in skills such as basic carpentry, plumbing, minor electrical w ...

Early life and high school career

Marquetti was born in Cuba and moved to the United States with his family when he was aged 11 because of "political reasons." His family settled in

Lynwood, California Lynwood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city had a total population of 67,265, down from 69,772 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Lynwood is located nea ...

, where his father gained work as a tilesetter. Marquetti was playing basketball in a park league as a ninth grader when he was noticed by Rudy Washington, a junior varsity coach at

Locke High School Alain Leroy Locke College Preparatory Academy (formerly Locke High School) is a Title 1 co-educational charter high school located in Los Angeles, California, United States, and is part of the Los Angeles Unified School District/Green Dot Public ...

. Marquetti attended Locke until he was declared ineligible because he was playing basketball for a school out of his district. When Washington became the head coach of the basketball team at

Verbum Dei High School Verbum Dei Jesuit High School, nicknamed the Verb, is a private Catholic all-boys college preparatory school sponsored by the Society of Jesus in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1962 by the Society of the Divine Word to serve students ...

, Marquetti transferred there for his junior and season years. He was nicknamed "Spider Man" because of his leaping ability; he had a

vertical jump A vertical jump or vertical leap is the act of jumping upwards into the air. It can be an exercise for building both endurance and strength, and is also a standard test for measuring athletic performance. It may also be referred to as a ''Sargent ...

measured at 43 inches. Marquetti averaged 17.8 points and 16 rebounds per game during his senior season, and was named to the ''Parade'' All-American first-team in 1978. Marquetti estimated that he received between 275 and 300 letters from colleges interested in recruiting him. He committed to play basketball for the

where Washington was hired as an assistant coach.

College career

Marquetti averaged 4.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game during his two seasons with the Trojans. Trojans replaced head coach Bob Boyd with

Stan Morrison Stanley Mack Morrison (born October 15, 1939) is an American retired college basketball coach and athletic director. He was head men's basketball coach at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, from 1972 to 1979, University of ...

who wanted to move Marquetti to

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

instead of

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

. Marquetti decided to transfer and was bound to join the

Cal State Fullerton Titans The Cal State Fullerton Titans (also known as CSUF or Fullerton Titans) are the sport, athletic teams that represent California State University, Fullerton. The Titans are a member of the NCAA Division I level. The Titans compete within the Big W ...

until he was prevented by transcript problems. He instead joined the

. Marquetti had to sit out his first semester at Hampton but played in 21 of the team's 28 games during the 1980–81 season. He led the team in rebounds with 9.0 per game. On March 26, 1981, Marquetti declared his intention to claim hardship status for early entry in the

. He was selected as the 199th overall pick by the

but never played in the

(NBA).

Murder conviction

On March 25, 2010, Marquetti fatally shot his ex-girlfriend's

, Michael Hurlbutt, in

Plant City, Florida Plant City is an incorporated city in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States, approximately midway between Brandon and Lakeland along Interstate 4. It is part of the Tampa Bay area. The population was 39,764 at the 2020 census. Despite ma ...

. Prosecutors portrayed Marquetti as a

hoarder Hoarding is the gathering and storing of goods. Hoarding may also refer to: Animal and human behavior * Hoarding (animal behaviour), an animal behaviour related to storing surplus goods for later use * Hoarding (economics), the practice of ob ...

who struggled losing his girlfriend, Siglinde Sperber, when she ended their 10-year relationship and asked him to move out of their home. Marquetti was agitated when he saw Hurlbutt and Sperber together as they left Sperber's house and shot Hurlbutt four times. Marquetti was convicted by a jury of

first-degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse ...

aggravated battery Battery is a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact, distinct from assault, which is the act of creating reasonable fear or apprehension of such contact. Battery is a specific common law offense, although the term is used more gen ...

with a firearm and

false imprisonment False imprisonment or unlawful imprisonment occurs when a person intentionally restricts another person's movement within any area without legal authority, justification, or the restrained person's permission. Actual physical restraint is n ...

. On May 27, 2011, Marquetti was sentenced to

without parole for the murder.

Personal life

Marquetti's nephew, Malik Marquetti, played college basketball for the USC Trojans and

Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns are the athletic teams of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The college has been competing athletically since 1901. The Ragin' Cajuns compete in NCAA Division I, fielding 16 varsity teams. Nickname The unive ...

References

External links

College statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marquetti, Leonel 1959 births Living people 20th-century American sportsmen 20th-century Cuban sportsmen American male criminals American men's basketball players American people convicted of murder American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment American sportspeople convicted of crimes Basketball players from Havana Basketball players from Los Angeles Cuban expatriate basketball people in the United States Cuban men's basketball players Cuban people convicted of murder Forwards (basketball) Hampton Pirates basketball players People with hoarding disorder Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Florida San Antonio Spurs draft picks Sportspeople convicted of murder USC Trojans men's basketball players Verbum Dei High School alumni