Marcus Liberty (born October 27, 1968) is an American former professional

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 four seasons 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). Liberty played college basketball for the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

High school

After leading Chicago's Crane High School Cougars to a city title as a freshman, Liberty transferred to Chicago's King College Prep High School for his sophomore through senior seasons from 1984 to 1987. During his time at King, Liberty led his basketball teams to an IHSA State Championship in 1986 and a second-place finish in 1987. During the 1987 tournament run, Liberty scored 41, 23, 38 and 41 points consecutively. His 143-point effort during that tournament stands as a ''class AA'' record in the state of Illinois. He was named a McDonald's All-American in 1987, as well as the ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually some variety ...

'' Player of the Year. In 2007, Liberty was voted one of the " 100 Legends of the IHSA Boys Basketball Tournament," recognizing his superior performance in his appearances in the tournament.IHSA – Legends of Boys Basketball
/ref> He was considered the top senior prep player in the nation by ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

''.

College and NBA

Liberty played collegiately at the

, and was a member of the team that advanced to the 1989 NCAA Final Four. That Fighting Illini team gained the moniker "'' Flyin' Illini''" by

Dick Vitale Richard "Dick" John Vitale (; born June 9, 1939), also known as "Dickie V", is an American basketball sportscaster. A former head coach in the college and professional ranks, he is well known for his 41-year tenure as a college basketball broadc ...

while broadcasting a game during the 1988–89 season. Along with Liberty, the other members of that team included Nick Anderson, Kendall Gill, Stephen Bardo, Kenny Battle, and Lowell Hamilton. He was then selected by the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

in the 2nd round (42nd overall) of the 1990 NBA draft. A ,

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three, is one of the five Basketball position, positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than Power forward (basketball), power forwards and Cent ...

, Liberty played for the Nuggets and

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

in 4 NBA seasons. His best year as a pro was during the 1991-92 NBA season when he appeared in 75 games for the Nuggets, averaging 9.3 ppg.

References

External links

basketpedya.com
''basketballreference.com''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liberty, Marcus 1968 births Living people AEK B.C. players Alaska Aces (PBA) players American expatriate basketball people in Chile American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Japan American expatriate basketball people in Sweden American expatriate basketball people in the Dominican Republic American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American men's basketball players Basketball players from Chicago Denver Nuggets draft picks Denver Nuggets players Detroit Pistons players Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball players Jämtland Basket players Las Vegas Silver Bandits players McDonald's High School All-Americans Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Small forwards Philippine Basketball Association imports Polluelos de Aibonito players Pop Cola Panthers players Rapid City Thrillers players