With a 4.43 GPA and stellar ACT scores, Marcus Blossom had his pick of colleges across the United States when he was a high school senior. The offers of an academic scholarship came from far and wide.
Blossom, however, wanted something else: He wanted to play basketball at the highest level, Division I. Unfortunately, Division I coaches across the country didn’t want him. Blossom did not surrender his dream that easily, though; he kept searching and he found a school that was going to give him a full academic scholarship and a legitimate opportunity to play basketball at the highest level.
That’s how Blossom found himself in Boston at Northeastern University, the first step on a path that led him to Holy Cross, where he was named director of intercollegiate athletics in May.
Searching for a Shot at DI
The youngest of eight children, Blossom grew up in Matteson, Illinois, a Chicago suburb, and was an outstanding basketball player at Rich South High School, averaging 20 points per game his senior year for a team that finished with a 25-5 record.
Yet it wasn’t enough to attract the attention of the so-called big-time coaches.
“I thought I was a good player, but I couldn’t get a lot of offers,” Blossom says. “My coach, he probably sent tapes — it was VHS tapes at the time — and letters to over 100 Division I programs.”
Blossom did have an offer from Wagner College on Staten Island, but New York wasn’t for him. He could have been a non-basketball scholarship player at Illinois or Northwestern, but playing time was not guaranteed and would be hard to earn.
“At Illinois, I got a full academic presidential scholarship and the only balance that I would owe: $8,” he says. “Eight dollars to go to the University of Illinois! It’s a great school, a Top 50 school. My mom said, ‘You can go to Illinois for $8!’ But she knew I wanted to play basketball.”
He finally connected with Northeastern, a school with an inconsistent basketball history and one that was not winning at that time. Blossom saw an opportunity, and the Northeastern coaches were willing to give him a chance.
Jay Young, now the head coach at Fairfield University but then a Northeastern assistant, was dispatched to Chicago to see him play.
“It was probably the easiest recruitment ever,” Young says. “I liked what he did. It was an easy decision because it didn’t cost a [basketball] scholarship. At minimum, you have a great kid on your team.”
When Blossom got to Boston, it quickly became apparent that he was going to be more than a great kid at the end of the bench.
“Before the season, you start working out with the guys and I was right there,” Blossom says. “I called my parents back at home and said, ‘I’m going to be playing this year.'”