The United States basketball jewel who has a mother from Rosario, is a fan of Messi and wants to play for the Argentine team

Marcus Adams Jrs, 2m03 forward and 18 years old

“At home they only spoke Spanish.” Marcus Adams Jrs himself admits it in perfect Spanish and his mother Delfina confirms it, in a chat with Infobae. “When he came to kindergarten, at the age of 3, I had to tell the teacher, who luckily was Mexican, to speak to him in Spanish at first, but at the same time to teach him English because he didn’t know a word… I had learned a lot in two months”, she reveals from California, where she arrived in 2004 with her husband Marcus Adams Sr, that basketball player who spent 24 years playing in our country until his age (47), the economic crisis after 2001 and the Delfina’s pregnancy was returned to his country of origin. “At first we planned to leave for two years but having children changed everything for us, although we never abandoned our customs. To such an extent that they spoke Spanish better than English, ”says her mother, 16 years younger than her husband, a 2m04 pivot who was an emblem of the Chaco Harvest and the Rosario Cyclone.

From the relationship between the two, which began in a Rosario bar, Marcus and his younger brother, Máximo (15 years old), were born, both promising basketball players from California. The oldest, a versatile 2m03 and 18-year-old forward, was chosen among the top 30 of the national secondary and top 3 within California. A status that allowed him to receive offers from 20 universities. Marcus opted for the current champion of the NCAA tournament that brings together more than 345 faculties, Kansas. He did it after shining at Narbonne High School -averaging 30 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists in his last season-, where Máximo is still a forward with similar characteristics to his brother and, especially, the same dreams. “Getting to the NBA and playing for the Argentine team,” says Marcus, without hesitation.

The celebration of the Montiel penalty that gave the world championship to the Argentine team

It is surprising that an American basketball jewel, who was only once in the country, wants so much to wear the blue and white, especially living there and having the chance to play for a more powerful national team, like the USA. “But I would love to play for my mom’s country and where my dad was treated so well. I know the history, I have seen matches and I also know the warmth and passion of the Argentine. I went crazy with the World Cup. I’m a big fan of Messi and you don’t know how we celebrated the title in an Argentine restaurant in California. I had never seen so many Argentines together and I went crazy. I ended up crying,” he explains. The story is not enough to explain what he felt. The video that he shared with us is more precise: you can see the emotion of the kid, dressed in the light blue and white, after the penalty scored by Montiel.

She does not drink mate daily, as Delfina does. But he did drink tereré, often, when he traveled to our country, in the summer of 2019, before the pandemic. It is precisely very possible that, at Easter, the family travels to the land that so many of its members long for. “I am waiting for the moment. I love going there. To see all the relatives I have, eat with them, spend time and go to the clubs, like Newell’s, Sportmen, the Cyclone, see if I can train there”, reveals who has Scola and Ginóbili as idols and references.

Marcus Adams Jrs with his family

The history of both brothers began with soccer. Our football, clarifies Delfina. The mother, precisely, was responsible for inserting another of our passions into her children. “The problem is that they were so tall and powerful that they hit them a lot, especially the Mexicans, who are brave. And we always ended up in hospital guards… I got scared and decided that they should continue with basketball, especially also because they were tall and coordinated,” she explains. That, however, did not take away their passion for soccer that was revived, like never before, during the World Cup in Qatar.

Moving on to basketball, Marcus talks about his style of play. “I can do everything on the court,” he says and it shows in a video that the Ballslife site put together and we share here. He can be seen running the court, finishing with power, making impressive dunks, but also passing the ball and shooting effectively -and very good technique- from the three-point line. That class of players that Argentina finds difficult to manufacture and that fit perfectly with modern basketball.

From the Argentine Confederation (CAB) they already communicated days ago to fulfill the objective of meeting him and quoting him, in principle to the U19, in the case of Marcus. It was Mariano Marcos, Coordinator of Training Teams, who spoke with the boy and his mother, to express the desire to evaluate them and, if possible, that they are in two tournaments that will be played in June. One is the U19 World Cup in Debrecen, Hungary, from the 25th, where Marcus could play. In the event that the Kansas authorities allow it, although that is likely because he only has to appear in September to play his first season. And the other is the U16 World Cup, at the beginning of the month, without a venue, which Máximo, 15, could attend.

Marcus Adams Jrs in action

The mother has already started the procedures to obtain Argentine citizenship and also Italian citizenship, “just in case, because they can be used to play in Europe tomorrow.” We have to see if the papers arrive on time. For now, on this trip that the family has scheduled for the next few weeks, Marcos will surely travel to Rosario to see both of them, because although there is hope with both of them, especially Marcus, it is known that another basketball is played there -at the secondary level Sometimes not so good- and they will have to adapt to another way of playing that our teams have.

It is clear that Bill Self, prestigious coach from Kansas, does not waste places in his powerful roster and if he recruited Marcus it is because he really is very good. Beyond the logical adaptation that he will have to make, his size, power, athletic ability and size will be able to empower a National Team that suffered a lot to qualify for the World Cup. These two cases are not the only ones. From the CAB they confirmed that they have received many -of Argentine fathers or mothers who emigrated- who are evaluating, because they cannot bring everyone and also it is necessary to really see which ones have a level of truth and can empower the different national teams. The reality is that they seek to strengthen the training teams that have been suffering for years, especially in the previous one, which entered the U19 World Cup last, suffered beatings in the U17 World Cup and almost lost to Ecuador in the South American.

For now, Marcus’s social networks were filled with Argentines who had already welcomed him and left him dozens of messages, almost as if he were a savior. “Everyone is telling me that they need me, that they are waiting for me… They already call me Marquitos,” says the boy with a laugh. His parents also seek to take care of that. “She hasn’t stopped answering the phone for two weeks. First for having accepted the Kansas thing and then, when he skipped the Argentina thing. He is already beginning to have the pressure of adults and he is only 18 years old. We are clear that we will need help and we are already looking for it”, said Delfina.

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