(Former SJSU star Marquin Chandler is back home for now/here's a feature on his life
)
Marquin Chandler is not your man in the gray flannel suit. Yes,
he is part professional basketball player and multiple-tatted but also
registers as a businessman/entrepreneur who is smart, focused, driven
and a family man. Maybe Renaissance Man applies, multi-faceted certainly
does.
He has come a long way from his beginnings in Oakland yet he still
resides there and possesses a strong allegiance to the area. Similar to a
number of other athletes with such roots, it's a matter of 'you can
take him out of O-Town but you can't take O-Town out of him.'
Now flush from very successful stints abroad in the Philippines and
South Korea as well as elsewhere, he took this year off to both
regenerate and to facilitate various business enterprises.
But all was not champagne and roses in his life.
Way back when, Chandler was attending his second high school but on his
third high school basketball team, that being Newark Memorial High,
where he formed a kinship with Craig Ashmore, the long time basketball
coach there.
"I had an aunt living there and she wanted me to come," Chandler recalled.
That proved to be a turning point.
Because "I was on the wrong track," Chandler readily admits.
But that turned around -- no, make that he turned it around.
According to Chandler, his transformation had a lot to do with Coach Ashmore.
"He was stern but very understanding and me and him had an
understanding. He is one of my favorite coaches and I believe he could
easily be a college coach."
In his time at Newark Memorial, Chandler developed into a college basketball prospect.
So much so that after graduation, it was off to George Washington
University in our nation's capital -- "I chose George Washington because
I connected well with the coach and because it's one of the top
universities in the country academically."
But there's an interesting back story before his heading off to D.C.
Chandler recalled "Baylor was my #1 choice because they were the first team putting in the time and effort in recruiting me."
But as time went on, teams grew impatient and pulled out of his recruiting process.
Indicating how access to information has become commonplace of late but
not necessarily so just a short number of years ago, Chandler was
unaware he needed to take the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) in order
receive a scholarship to play in college.
"Coach Ashmore told me that 'you can't get a scholarship without taking
the SAT' so I had to do it. I didn't pass until June and by then a lot
of offers had disappeared."
He liked his time at GW but, two years later, the pull of home and a young daughter proved irresistible.
So Chandler transferred to San Jose State University in 2002,
redshirting his first year, then playing his last two. As a senior in
2004-2005, he averaged 19.6 points and 8.6 rebounds, with high of 33
points against Rice and 32 versus Hawaii -- all this despite a shoulder
injury as a result of having to lay down his motorcycle on the pavement
when a driver pulled out in front of him. Still, his name is scattered
throughout the Spartan basketball record book.
Academically, he chose an interesting major and for a particular reason.
It was administration of justice.
"I grew up in Oakland with a lot of crime and I thought I could be a
mentor because of my street credibility," Chandler explained. He is
especially proud of his earning his B.A. because "me making it to
college was a big step and I'm the only member of my family on either
side with a college degree."
On the court, especially in his senior season, watching him perform were
Adam and Ben Pensack of the Pensack Sports Management Group.
They introduced themselves and the relationship bloomed from there.
"They scouted me, liked what they saw and were very genuine," Chandler
recalled. "I respected that because finding the right agent is big."
There was a Sacramento Kings tryout followed by time in Belgium before
Chandler eventually landed in the Philippine Basketball Association.
Again, it was another good pairing.
"I was kind of looked at as a funny, real skinny kid" but then his ability to score and rebound made a strong impression.
It was a situation where the team took care of his housing but his initiation off the court was a very different experience.
"I didn't speak the language but soon I learned enough of it and also
learned my way around," he remembered. "I'm very adaptable." So much so
that he has a business in the Philippines to this day.
His year there was followed by a season in Latvia and then Singapore
with a team possessing a for-the-record-books name: the Singapore
Slingers.
Next was a successful stint in South Korea.
Chandler then returned to the Philippines, followed by spent two seasons
back in South Korea before finishing out in Bahrain and then Portugal.
It was while in Bahrain that he noticed the court had a fence around it
with a gate, a setup designed to handle unruly fans although Chandler
never experienced any of the situations abroad that sometimes make
headlines.
As for his travels, Chandler recalled "I had trouble in Belgium and Korea with the language
but pretty much everybody in the Philippines spoke English."
Looking back, the various teammates he played with "welcomed you. There
wasn't much resentment but you do get a sour apple once in a while."
It really wasn't until his time in Portugal where some jealousy finally appeared.
There was also the aspect of having money for the first time.
"I realized early on I didn't know how to handle money because I never
had any," Chandler said. "But one time when I got hurt, it gave me a
glimpse of what could happen if I couldn't play anymore."
The Pensacks helped with this aspect and Chandler is doing well.
He is currently pursuing business opportunities in the East Bay, one in particular that especially hits home for him --
ABG Sports Training (www.abgsportstraining.com which is still under construction).
"There is pretty good talent in the Bay Area, a nice crop of players,
who don't get the attention they deserve. I want to have a major
facility like the ones in Las Vegas, Chicago and other places where the
young guys can train alongside the pros. When I was 12, 13, I was in the
same gym with Brian Shaw and I want to help out the next generation."
About one such talent, Chandler said, "I saw Damian Lillard in high
school and I saw his growth throughout the years and about two years ago
I told Ben Pensack that he's going to the NBA. Now he is the top point
guard in the draft."
Chandler may return overseas to ply his trade once again but being with
his family and acting on his dream are just as important.
Here's Adam Pensack on Chandler: "I have given Marquin some pointers for
sure with his training business as he gets it up and running but the
business he has in the Philippines is all his own doing though. Marquin
has an acute innate business sense. He is just really entrepreneurial by
nature and he is not afraid to put his ideas into action. Fortunately,
he has good judgement so things have tended to work out well for him. He
has a gift for business much like his gift for basketball so I really
believe he will do well with his training business down the line."
Call Chandler a local who made good and is now intent on giving back.
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