Markle Lands Scholarship
It was a little over one year ago when Sam Markle was starring on the summer circuit with his Connecticut Gold AAU club, that he picked up a scholarship offer from UMBC, a division I program from the America East who would go on to their first NCAA tournament later that year.
At the time Markle wasn’t ready to make his final decision, so he played out his senior season at Amity High School and ultimately opted for a post-graduate year at St. Thomas More.
Fast forward fourteen months and Markle isn’t about to pass up on another scholarship offer, especially one from a good academic school. So now he is headed to Stonehill College from the Northeast 10 Conference, arguably the best division II league in the country.
And Stonehill has been one of the perennial favorites in that league for each of the last four seasons under McLaughlin. The pinnacle of that success came in the 2005-06 season when the Skyhawks won 27 games and advanced to the final four of NCAA division II basketball tournament. But in truth McLaughlin’s program has established itself as one of consistency as they have never had a losing season during his tenure.
And that is just one of the many reasons why Markle is such a good fit for Stonehill…because he is about as consistent of a point guard as you’ll find. He’s a prototypical old school lead guard – a pass first, shoot second floor general who makes terrific decisions with the basketball and plays almost like a coach on the floor. While he can make shots from the perimeter and get into the lane with his dribble from time to time, it isn’t his ability to score that sets him apart as much as it is his poise, toughness, and high basketball I.Q.
It is those qualities that are bound to make him successful not just during his upcoming post-graduate season at St. Thomas More, but also over the next four years at Stonehill College, where Markle will inevitably evolve into the team’s leader and floor general. And you can bet that the tradition of excellence that Stonehill has been building over the last four years will be in capable hands with Markle at the helm of the ship.
Sam Markle