Marques Reid Whippy (born February 5, 1986) is a Fijian former professional
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
player. He played
college basketball
In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...
for
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...
in Hawaii before playing professionally in Spain, Australia, Chile and New Zealand. He has been a regular member of the
Fijian national team.
Early life and college
Born in
Suva
Suva () is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rewa Province, Central Di ...
,
Fiji, to parents Paul and Olive, Whippy was the third eldest of six children. Despite growing up in a rugby dominated country, Whippy started playing basketball at a young age due to family influence – both his parents played and coached basketball at some level in Fiji. At the age of 14, he represented the country internationally for the first time, and in 2002 he played for Fiji at the Oceania Youth Tournament in Tonga.
Whippy attended
LDS Church
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ...
College in Suva before moving to the United States in 2003, where he spent his last year of secondary school at
Woods Cross High School in
Woods Cross, Utah
Woods Cross is a city in Davis County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Ogden– Clearfield, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 9,761 as of the 2010 census, with an estimated population in 2019 of 11,431.
History ...
.
There, he played 4A state basketball.
After serving a two-year
Mormon mission with
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ...
, Whippy joined the
BYU–Hawaii Seasiders men's basketball team for the 2007–08 season. His size and physical abilities became an instrument for the Seasiders. During his junior year in 2009–10, he was awarded first team all-conference and led his team to the
Division II National Championship held in
Springfield, Massachusetts.
He improved further as a senior in 2010–11 as he earned the
Pacific West Player of the Year award and finished his four-year career at BYU–Hawaii with a school-record of 245 steals. In 31 games (30 starts) as a senior, he averaged 14.2 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.8 steals, 1.3 blocks in 31.2 minutes per game.
Professional career
Spain
In August 2011, Whippy signed a one-year deal with
Bàsquet Mallorca
Club Bàsquet Mallorquí, also known as Bàsquet Mallorca was a professional basketball team based in Inca, Balearic Islands, Spain.
History
Bàsquet Mallorca was founded in 2008 as a merger of two teams from Balearic Islands:
* Club Bàsquet In ...
of the
LEB Oro. In 31 games for Mallorca in
2011–12, he averaged 8.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.
Australia
In April 2012, following the conclusion of the LEB Oro season, Whippy moved to Australia and joined the Brisbane Spartans for the 2012
SEABL season. An ankle injury sidelined him for three weeks during May. In 20 games for Brisbane, he averaged 10.3 points, 8.2 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.
Whippy returned to Australia in June 2013 and joined the Northside Wizards of the
Queensland Basketball League. In his first game for Northside, in round five against the Brisbane Capitals, he recorded 14 rebounds to go with seven points and five assists. He appeared in 14 games for Northside in
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...
, averaging 12.6 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists and a league-leading 3.1 steals per game.
Chile
In September 2013, Whippy moved to Chile and joined CD Universidad Católica of the
Liga Nacional de Básquetbol de Chile. In 13 regular season games with Católica, Whippy averaged a league-leading 2.8 steals per game. After Católica was knocked out of the playoffs with a 2–1 semi-final series loss to CD Liceo Mixto, Whippy departed Chile in December 2013.
New Zealand
In January 2014, Whippy signed with the
Otago Nuggets for the
2014 New Zealand NBL season
The 2014 NBL season was the 33rd season of the National Basketball League. The Canterbury Rams returned to the league in 2014 after a five-year hiatus.
The 2014 pre-season tournament was held at the Te Rauparaha Arena in Porirua on Saturday 22 ...
. After debuting with 17 rebounds against the
Southland Sharks, a ruptured Achilles suffered at training ruled him out for the rest of the season.
On September 29, 2014, Whippy signed with the
Canterbury Rams for the
2015 New Zealand NBL season
The 2015 NBL season was the 34th season of the National Basketball League. The season draw was supposed to be released in December 2014, but the withdrawal of Otago and Waikato prompted a rethink for the 2015 competition format. In the past, ea ...
. In 18 games for Canterbury, he averaged 7.8 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.3 steals per game.
In December 2015, Whippy re-signed with the Rams for the
2016 season. He helped the Rams finish the regular season in first place with a 13–5 record. It marked the Rams' first playoff appearance since 2002 and their first regular season title since 1993. In their semi-final match-up with the fourth-seeded
Super City Rangers
The Super City Rangers were a New Zealand basketball team based in Auckland. The Rangers competed in the National Basketball League (NBL) and played their home games across multiple venues in Auckland.
Team history
The Waitakere Rangers debut ...
, the Rams were defeated 104–85. He appeared in all 19 games for the Rams in 2016, averaging 9.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.9 steals per game.
On October 17, 2016, Whippy re-signed with the Rams for the
2017 season. The Rams finished the regular season in fourth place with a 10–8 record, and lost in the semi-finals to the
Wellington Saints. He appeared in all 19 games for the Rams in 2016, averaging 6.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.7 steals per game.
In August 2017, Whippy was retained by the Rams for the
2018 season. However, he was re-classed as an import under new league rules, where Oceania players are no longer permitted to play as locals. The Rams opted to move in a different direction with their imports late in pre-season, with Whippy and the Rams controversially parting ways in April 2018.
National team career
Whippy was a member of the
Fijian national basketball team in 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2015, 2017 and 2019.
He helped Fiji win gold at the
2007 South Pacific Games
The 2007 South Pacific Games were held in Apia, Samoa, from 25 August to 8 September 2007. The Games were the thirteenth to be held since the inception of the South Pacific Games in 1963, and included traditional multi-sport event disciplines, su ...
, silver at the
2015 Pacific Games
The 2015 Pacific Games, also known as Port Moresby 2015 or POM 2015, was held in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, from 4 to 18 July 2015. It was the fifteenth staging of the Pacific Games as well as the third to be hosted in Port Moresby.
More tha ...
and bronze at the
2019 Pacific Games
The 2019 Pacific Games was the sixteenth edition of the Pacific Games. The Games were held in Apia, Samoa, returning there for the first time since 2007. It was the third time overall that the Pacific Games were held in Samoa.
The event was init ...
.
Personal
Whippy and his wife, Valmene,
have two daughters. Whippy plays alongside his brothers, Leonard and Waymann, with the Fijian national team.
Whippy is one of six children to father Paul and mother Olive: older sister Majori, older brother Leonard, younger brother Waymann, and younger twin brothers Jared and Joshua. He also has an adopted sister, Jodie. Both Jared and Joshua are on rugby scholarships in the United States at Brigham Young University (BYU).
Whippy is a basketball coach at Christchurch's Hillmorton High School.
References
External links
Marques Whippyat rams.org.nz
Marques Whippyat foxsportspulse.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whippy, Marques
1986 births
Living people
Bàsquet Mallorca players
BYU–Hawaii Seasiders men's basketball players
Canterbury Rams players
Fijian expatriate basketball people in Australia
Fijian expatriate basketball people in Chile
Fijian expatriate basketball people in New Zealand
Fijian expatriate basketball people in Spain
Fijian expatriate basketball people in the United States
Fijian men's basketball players
Fijian Latter Day Saints
Fijian Mormon missionaries
Fijian people of British descent
Fijian people of I-Taukei Fijian descent
Otago Nuggets players
Power forwards (basketball)
Sportspeople from Suva