Blakely returns home, shows locals what they're missing

Roughly 200 people at a recent Rutgers University basketball game weren't cheering for the home team or for the visiting team from the University of Vermont. They were cheering for Metuchen High School.

Above and left: Marqus Blakely in action during a Nov. 21 game at Rutgers. The senior from Metuchen had over 200 family members and friends in attendance during Vermont's 77-71 victory over the Scarlet Knights. Metuchen High School alumnus Marqus Blakely had a homecoming of sorts on Nov. 21 as he helped his team to beat Rutgers, 77-71, with 17 points to go along with game highs of nine rebounds, five blocks and four steals.

Blakely is a senior at theUniversity of Vermont, where he's majoring in business with the goal of starting his own company marketing large-size shoes — something he has personal experience with, since it's difficult for him to find shoes.

Although Blakely is 6-feet-5 and weighs 225 pounds, Caroline Woodruff still thinks of him as the first-grader who befriended her son Patrick. She remembers days when Marcus, Patrick and a host of other children crowded around her kitchen table to dye Easter eggs.

PHOTOS BY JIM O'CONNOR "He's still Marcus, the kid he was. He's very grounded — a nice, sweet guy," Woodruff said. "It was a big coming home for him. It was like a hero's welcome for him. He looked a little overwhelmed by the support."

Among the crowd was Metuchen High School Athletic Director John Cathcart. He said Metuchen's basketball coach, Richard Stoner, took players from the school's current basketball team to the game "so they could see how you get there — it's hard work."

Cathcart added, "It was great to see him again. I think the adrenaline was seriously flowing. He changed the game around."

Blakely did well at the beginning of the game and then suffered a mild injury. He was reportedly poked in the eye, but he returned later in the game, scoring five of his team's final nine points.

"We're very proud of him," Cathcart said.

"We never played Rutgers before," Blakely said in a telephone interview with the Sentinel. And he suspected that some friends from Metuchen might be in the stands that day. "I knew my mom and my dad were going to be there, but everyone was there," Blakely said. "There were about 200 people there. It felt weird because I was not expecting it. I was looking to see who was there. I saw friends I haven't seen since we went off to college."