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Welcome to “Good Morning, Illini Nation,” your daily dose of college basketball news from Illini beat writer and AP Top 25 voter Scott Richey. He’ll offer up insights every morning on Brad Underwood’s team and college basketball at large:
Former Illinois forward Marcus Liberty will have his No. 30 jersey retired by Chicago King in November. The “jersey retirement weekend” will included the Jaguars’ “Black and Gold” game at 5 p.m. on Nov. 7 at King High School and a banquet ceremony, again at the high school, at 5 p.m. on NOv. 8. Tickets for the ceremony are $40.
“Honored, blessed and grateful to have my jersey retired at King High School,” Liberty shared on social media. “Hope to see a lot of familiar faces in the building.”
Liberty was a McDonald’s All-American coming out of King, where he spent his final three years of high school after starting at Crane. The 6-foot-8 forward led the Jaguars to a Class AA state title in 1986 and a runner-up finish in 1987.
Liberty averaged 16 points and 6.5 rebounds in King’s run to the 1986 Class AA championship. That included 14 points and 13 rebounds in the title game — a 47-40 victory against future teammate Kendall Gill and Rich Central at then Assembly Hall.
What Liberty accomplished a year later still stands as a Class AA tournament scoring record. The King star had games of 41, 23, 48 and 41 points and averaged 35.7 points and 8.7 rebounds. Liberty put up 41 points and 15 rebounds in the title game, but that plus 12 points from Jamie Brandon wasn’t enough to fend off LaPhonso Ellis, James Harris, Chris Rodgers and East St. Louis Lincoln in the Tigers’ 79-62 victory.
Liberty spent three seasons at Illinois and played two for the Illini. He averaged 8.4 points and 3.9 rebounds in the Final Four season in 1988-89. Liberty then put up 17.8 points and 7.1 rebounds per game the following season before being selected in the second round of the 1990 NBA Draft by the Denver Nuggets. Liberty spent four seasons in the NBA and then played in Greece, Turkey, Sweden, Puerto Rico, Japan and the Philippines along with short stints in the CBA, IBL and IBA before his retirement from basketball in 2002.