Markeese Strawbridge: Rising Star Does It All

Written by David Grossman

Never turn away from a moment of greatness.

Markeese Strawbridge is learning all about it and, in many ways, has already accomplished several significant things in his young life. Hold on, there is so much more to come from this young masterpiece.

As a little boy, he once held a propeller of a plane that was on display at the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre in Sault Ste. Marie. Back then, he was quite inquisitive and fascinated at the magic that goes into the complexity and efficiency of an item that he had only seen in pictures.

Some 10 years later, and he’s still challenging and curious. But he’s grown up – and quite a bit.

These days he’s also an extremely talented multi-sport athlete. Now, the focus is more on the stardom of basketball than the gridiron. What’s also interesting is that he’s involved in more than just sports. In his first semester of high school, he played the music of Beethoven on the saxophone.

There was a time when Strawbridge was also an avid collector, but it wasn’t vintage stamps or coins. Instead, he was fascinated by the shapes, sizes, and colors of rocks. He has quite a collection. In the classroom, he may be the next whiz in his tech class after choosing to work with fellow students to make a small race car.

With a towering 6-foot-5 physical frame and tipping the scales at 200 pounds, Strawbridge remembers the days of graduating from Parkland Public School – a school affiliated with the term “confident learners, caring citizens”. Before moving on, he did help the school of a few hundred students, and with just seven basketball players, finish third in the city.

Awarded the Athlete of the Year title, he’s the new kid on the block at Korah Collegiate and already quite popular with staff and students.

Those who remember notable author, educator, and lecturer Helen Keller, might recall that she once wrote “optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.”

Strawbridge has all of that.

A bundle of energy and enthusiasm on the basketball court, he’s impressive, intelligent and has developed a true passion for success in life.

“I had played a lot of basketball during recess at elementary school and one of the teachers, who was watching, came up and told me that I was talented and to keep working at it,” recalled Strawbridge. “I have never forgotten that time. I was having fun, really enjoyed, and realized that the game involves more than one player – but a team working together.”

In his first ever high school game, a pre-season tournament in North Bay, he scored 20 points in the first quarter against a weaker team before being taken out of the game. On the same day, and his second game, Strawbridge – a grade 9 student – piled up 43 points, which included seven three-point buckets.

Possessing all the attributes of a strong player, Strawbridge has the package: a great vertical, dunks easily, shows he is well coordinated and is a pure example of natural ability. Just 15-years old, he’s already the talk of Northern Ontario – and word is spreading.

Jeff Giovanatti is more than just a high school vice principal at White Pines Secondary – which is a rival of Korah on the local sports scene. He has coached club basketball for almost 20 years. Giovanatti was also the one in charge of Team Ontario from 2007 to 2014, and in his history of success, was the team manager with Basketball Canada’s cadet national team.

Now, back to Sault Ste. Marie. That’s where Giovanatti also coaches the Steel City Slam, a club team that competes in the Ontario Basketball Association. Guess who is on his team? Yes, Strawbridge.

“I am not exaggerating when I tell you (Strawbridge) is one of the top three-point shooters for his age in the province,” praised Giovanatti. “When I first saw him back in grade 4, he could rebound, but he was un-coordinated and couldn’t score. Now, he’s a special kid, a delight to coach, a hard worker and quite the team player.”

Strawbridge has some interesting and proud ancestry. The family tree, on his mother’s side, has ethnicity roots to Scottish Welch and non-status First Nation Mi’kmaq while his father’s genealogy consists of Guyanese, Portuguese, and Filipino.

At a time when equity, diversity and inclusion are front and centre, Strawbridge has experienced moments of frustration when others had choice words for him.

“I was picked on in grade 4 and told my mom and it happened again in grade 8, people made fun of me,” said Strawbridge, who is regularly in the gym working out devoting two hours a day to training and practice. “I hear people chirping at me and I’m not sure if it’s because of the color of my skin. I just use that stuff as fuel because I am doing what I do best.”

Academically sound, Strawbridge has dreams of playing professional basketball. If that doesn’t materialize, he’s focussed on a career in marketing and owning his own business. Some might find it interesting, maybe amusing, that he’s even contemplating a side job as a barber.

Talk to him, as I did in a telephone conversation, and it’s easy to see why the Sault Ste. Marie community – also referred to as the gateway to a paradise of forests, mountains, and wild rivers – is beaming about a guy who is gifted and has the flair to be the best grade 9 overall athlete in the city.

While basketball has helped Strawbridge develop self-confidence, adventure awaits him not just every season, but whenever he has a basketball. He was picked as the Most Valuable Player of the game this past season in the city-wide junior playoffs.

As for the off-season, there really isn’t one for him. Strawbridge is involved in various community activities. That includes the little slammers basketball program catering to students in grades 1 to 4.

With an unquenchable inner drive to make himself a better player, Strawbridge might want to study a few words from one of the greatest basketball players of all time, Michael Jordan.

“You must expect great things of yourself before you can do them.”

-END-

 

David Grossman is a veteran multi award-winning Journalist and Broadcaster with some of Canada’s major media, including the Toronto Star and SPORTSNET 590 THE FAN, and a Public Relations professional for 50+ years in Canadian sports and Government relations.