by Charles Gladden
BELIZE CITY, Tues. May 16, 2023
Amandala this week interviewed basketball star, 21-year-old Marques “Ques” Warrick, Jr., of the University of Northern Kentucky, NCAA Division II, who is visiting Belize and who recently completed his junior year of playing collegiate basketball for Northern Kentucky, during which he played 35 games and averaged 18.8 points.
Warrick is of Belizean heritage—a son of a Belizean-born mother, Therese, who is the daughter of Tony Wright, a KREM Radio personality; and American-born father, Marques Warrick, Sr.
Warrick, who is 6-feet 2-inches tall and weighs 185 pounds, said that it was his father and grandfather who taught him the game at 5 years old, when he began playing competitively.
“My dad and my grandad taught me at a young age, and I picked up a ball ever since I can remember; honestly, since I was a baby, when I decided at a young age that this is what I wanted to do, and I worked hard to up where I am now to go where I want to go,” he said.
On the first day of his visit to Belize, he was able to watch his first semi-pro basketball game in the country, which he was impressed with.
“I’ve never been to a game outside of the US, and it’s great experiencing the culture and Belize basketball as it is. [The] last time I came, I didn’t know anything about the semi-pro leagues or professional basketball here in Belize; but it’s grown, and I’ve seen a lot more on social media, and it’s good for Belize basketball,” Warrick noted.
“… Honestly, my ceiling is as high as I want it to be, and wherever it is professionally, that’s where it’s going to be; but I would think about playing on the national team sometime in the future, when I get in the professional ranks,” he added.
Warrick has been making trips to the country with his mother since he was 3 years old, and in recent years has been coordinating summer clinics at the Trinity Methodist Primary School in the Kings Park area of Belize City.
His advice to young Belizean athletes who have big dreams, whether sports-related or not, is “Anybody could make it, no matter where you’re from and what you do, whether it’s basketball, any type of sport, or anything outside of sports. Keep your heart in it, and always work hard, because it builds that confidence to know that you’re going up against other people doing the same thing. Keep your circle tight with the right people surrounding you.”