Little adjusting to college life in New Mexico
Former Bartlett boys basketball star Marc Little is adjusting to life in the great southwest.
An honorary co-captain of the 2008-09 Daily Herald All-Area team, Little has traded in the hustle and bustle of Chicagoland for the serene setting of Hobbs, N.M., a town of approximately 29,000 people located in the southeast corner of the state.
After he graduated from Bartlett, Little opted to go the junior college route in order to pursue his dream of playing Division-I basketball. He now plays point guard at New Mexico Junior College, a school of 3,000 students.
"It's tough," he said of the adjustment to the NJCAA level. "I'm getting my grades going, and I hope to get a Division-I scholarship after this."
After a slow start, Little has found his scoring touch. On Tuesday he scored a season-best 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting and went 5 of 5 from the free-throw line. He scored 7 of the Coyotes last 10 points in a 70-65 victory over Ranger College. He also had 3 assists.
"Marc's doing well," NMJC coach Chris Tifft said. "He got off to a slow start in the preseason just adjusting to the college game, trying to balance being a good player with leading a basketball team at the point guard position. Since the season started he's done a really good job.
"We have a sophomore point guard starting for us, but Marc has been on the floor to finish a lot of games as they play alongside each other."
Those interested in tracking Little's progress need only point and click a mouse. All Thunderbirds home games are streamed live on the Internet at www.nmjc.edu/t-birdtv, including this Monday's game against Lubbock Christian University's junior varsity team at 6 p.m. Central Standard Time.
Little is a proven scorer. As a senior at Bartlett he averaged 21.1 points. In addition to his 18-point performance on Tuesday, he scored 10 points last Thursday in a 56-55 tournament victory at the Pepsi Classic in Garden City, Kan. and has another 16-point game to his credit.
Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith said Hobbs is the best place for Little at this point in his career.
"I think that's a really good fit for him," Wolfsmith said. "He can concentrate on playing ball, get used to a college atmosphere and then move on to a Division-I school."
Little is living in the dorms at NMJC, which he says is "cool." His life right now revolves around books and hoops. It has to, he says, because there's not much else to do in Hobbs.
"It's boring," Little said. "I just go to school and play basketball. That's about it. It's not a big town. I'm fine, though. I like it here."