Princeton Opponent Spotlight: Schroeder goes from California zero to N.J. hero

By David Bernstein

Staff Writer

davidkb@sas.upenn.edu

There were plenty of obstacles that freshman Marcus Schroeder had to hurdle to find his way into a Princeton uniform and the starting lineup.

There was the geographic divide that the Concord, Calif. native had to brave. And then there was his youth - it is not often a 19-year old freshman finds himself on the floor for over 39 minutes per game.

But the biggest snag in Schroeder's college basketball plan was that no Division-I program even seemed to want him.

After receiving scholarship offers from some West Coast D-II programs, the guard had the choice of playing for a Big West school such as Cal Poly and paying tuition or coming eastward to play for the Tigers.

"I wasn't really interested in going to the East Coast, I kind of wanted to stay in California," Schroeder said. But "it's such a great opportunity here because of the education and the great basketball tradition Princeton has."

Despite the Tigers' woes at the onset of conference play, it looks as if Schroeder may be carving out his own position in the Princeton basketball history books.

Not only does he lead the nation in minutes per game, but despite shooting just 37 percent from the field and 28.6 percent from three, he has efficiently led the offense since the season opener.

And this was something he was more than prepared for.

"At my high school [De La Salle] we ran the Princeton offense," Schroeder said. "I really thrived in the role of being the point guard in the Princeton offense."

Not much has changed since high school.

Penn coach Glen Miller has never seen Schroeder live but knows what a threat the 6-foot-2 185-pound guard can be.

"He's a talented guy; he knows their system well, and he executes well," Miller said. "He is a guy we will have to be concerned with."

Unfortunately for Princeton, he may be one of the few Penn will have to keep its eye on.

While Schroeder's 5.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists will not drop any jaws for disciples of the stat sheet, his knowledge of the offense and solid defense - his 1.85 steals are good for best on the team - along with the enthusiasm of a leader make him indispensable to the Tigers.

And with a 1-5 Ivy League clip, Princeton's season has quickly become a transition year with Schroeder at the forefront of the Tigers' future.

"As the season progresses, I try to become more of a leader," he said. "It may not be about this season, but down the line, we're trying to develop."

Princeton fans certainly have all the reason to have faith in their point guard, especially if they take a quick look over their opponent's game program tonight.

Like Schroeder, Quakers senior guard Ibrahim Jaaber was under-recruited out of high school and was nearly forced to accept a spot at a D-II program.

The Red and Blue faithful know the rest. Now, Jaaber is the reigning Ivy Player of the Year.

While he may not be the athlete Jaaber is, Schroeder has more size and game experience than his counterpart had at the same age, and he is more of a true point guard.

And unlike the soft-spoken Jaaber, Schroeder is taking the snub he received last year a little more personally.

"I feel like coming out of high school I got the short end . like I could play at a Division-I level, step in right away," Schroeder said.

"I got a lot of looks, but nobody was really interested" he added, "and that was really motivation."

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