All eyes on Keene: Star guard Marcus Keene has gone from virtual unknown to the nation's top scorer

Marcus Keene transferred to CMU from Youngstown State and had to sit out the entire 2015-16 season due to NCAA regulations. Keene watched as the Chippewas — the preseason Mid-American Conference favorites — got bounced in their first game of the MAC Tournament. 

Keene felt helpless sitting on the bench, but knew his time was coming. 

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"It was tough because as a competitor you want to be out there. “You want to help the team as much as you can," he said. "It just wasn’t my time yet, so I kept cheering them on from the bench.”

On Nov. 11, 2016, Keene made his debut as a Chippewa. He began his CMU career with a 32-point, 10 rebound effort that led his team to a win over IU-Kokomo.

Two months and 20 games later, the 5-foot-9 point guard leads the country with 29.8 points per game and aims to be the first Division I player in 20 years to average 30 points for a season. The next highest scorer is Valparaiso’s Alec Peters at 24.2.

While not an easy task, the redshirt junior is up for the challenge. 

“I always wanted people to see how good of a basketball player I could be and that’s what they’re recognizing now,” Keene said.

With a mind-bending performance last Saturday, Keene out did himself — again. His rare ability to shoot from anywhere on the court was on full display with a career-high 50-point performance against Ball State when he tied a CMU record with 10 3-pointers. He broke a McGuirk Arena record for points and had the highest D-I scoring performance since 2013.

It was the third-highest scoring total in CMU history, and seventh in MAC history. His 10 3-pointers tied a program record. Within a seven-minute span late in the second half, Keene scored 26 consecutive points for the Chippewas. 

As MVP chants rained down, his play increased, pushing the Chippewas (13-7, 3-4 MAC) to a much-needed win.

“I like playing in front of crowds," Keene said. "That crowd gives me that motivation to play so much better because when they are cheering you on, you want to give them something to cheer about.”

Keene was awarded the MAC West Player of the Week the fourth time this season. He also received the Lou Henson Award for National Player of the Week.

Head coach Keno Davis watched Keene in practice last year and knew he had unique talent.

“I’m not going to say we foresaw him leading the country in scoring, but we knew we had a guy who could really score,” he said. “The idea for him to be at that level is great and how much he can improve over the last 13-14 games is going to be fun to watch.”

Outside of his impressive numbers on the court, Keene has electrified the Central Michigan fanbase and the team has seen attendance numbers steadily increase.

His determination to be great has him playing at a level few have ever reached at CMU or in the MAC.

Taking a chance on Chippewas

It wasn’t by a coincidence Keene ended up at Central Michigan.

In 2014, he and the Penguins traveled to McGuirk Arena and fell to the Chippewas, who went on to win the MAC regular season championship that year. 

While there, the San Antonio, Texas, native ran into a familiar foe— Dallas, Texas, native and CMU senior guard Braylon Rayson. 

The two faced off regularly in high school and considered themselves friends off the court, but "enemies" on it they said. 

Being two of the higher-ranked recruits in the Lone Star state, Keene and Rayson vied to get noticed by college scouts. Rayson’s school won each meeting. 

"His team always got the best of mine, but it was fun competing against each other," Keene said. 

While Rayson flourished in his college career at CMU, Keene floundered. Unchallenged, Keene said he felt like he was missing his time to shine playing at Youngstown State. 

In two seasons playing for Youngstown, he improved his scoring average from 6.5 to 15.6 points. That's when he decided to transfer.

The old rivals remained in contact, and over time, Keene saw the success CMU was having with Davis as head coach. He admired Davis' fast-paced system — he got the most out of his players. 

Keene saw what Rayson was doing. He wanted that, too. 

After a flurry of texts and coaxing from Rayson, Keene was convinced to make the move to Mount Pleasant.

“After playing against him in high school, I would have never thought we would play together on the same team,” Rayson said. “The person I used to go to battle with is now on my team.”

Rayson (19.4) is third in the MAC in scoring this season and he and Keene are the top scoring duo in the country. Rayson said he and his former rival knew they would be successful playing together. 

"It's fun. It's something we talked about his whole year sitting out. We knew it was coming," he said. "We just stayed focused and grinded it out all summer and now it's here. We've been having fun."

Although he couldn’t play in his first season in Maroon and Gold, Keene used last season to get better both on and off the court.

Practicing against and watching 2014-15 MAC Player of the Year runner-up Chris Fowler, Keene said he learned that being a leader meant more than being a high-scorer.

“He was one of the best leaders I’ve seen on and off the court,” Keene said before the season. “I’ve taken a lot of that as far as wanting to help out the younger guys this year. I don’t want to surpass Chris’ legacy. I just want to do what it takes to win games.” 

National spotlight

Since the team’s win against Wisconsin-Green Bay on Dec. 6 — which earned him praise from ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt on “SportsCenter” — Keene has been one of the highlights of college basketball.

He's been interviewed by USA Today, CBS, Yahoo, Fox Sports, Sporting News and Slam Magazine, to name a few. Keene and Rayson, were even featured on an Italian sports website. 

“It’s crazy, but we’re embracing it now,” Keene said. “We talked about doing this, but we didn’t know it would come with so much attention. It’s going to be so much more fun when we start winning some games.”

Fun is a good word for what Keene brings to the court.

When he scored 40 points and dished out 11 assists against the Phoenix, Keene was in his usual second-half groove, throwing up shots from farther and farther away from the hoop.

Then — as if he was still hooping on the grade-school playground — Keene spun 360 degrees in front of his defender. He threw up a 30-foot 3-pointer. It went in, and the McGuirk Arena crowd went wild.

Never Satisfied

Despite all of the success he’s had this season, Keene continues to work hard to improve the areas he’s not satisfied with.

He shows up an hour early for practice each day to get in extra shots. Keene admits he's had a recent “slump” — in which he scored 14, 20 and 22. He's also gaining another type of attention, for better or worse: The junior said he knows teams are starting to focus on him.

Keene said he refuses to let that slow him down.

“I want to get my efficiency back up,” he said. “Earlier in the year, I was shooting 50 percent. It also has to do with (teams) game planning differently, but you have to find ways around that. I have to prepare to play hard every night.”

Keene knows that if he wants to keep his hustle as the nation’s leading scorer, his performance has to be more than mental. He has to work on his physical fitness, as well. 

At 175 pounds, Keene has worked on adding muscle and building his slender frame. The team hits the weight room three times a week, but Keene does push-ups and sit-ups daily on his own.

Keene is set to graduate next year with a degree in sports management. Still, he's shooting for his dream to play professional basketball one day. 

“I see myself in the NBA and if that doesn’t work out, I see myself definitely making a lot of money overseas,” he said.  

Keene said he meditates on the careers of NBA players like Isaiah Thomas of the Boston Celtics and former Oakland University guard Kahlil Felder — both players share Keene's 5-foot-9 height. Watching his heroes make it with the same physical roadblocks gives him motivation — and hope — that he, too, can make it to the next level.

“I played against Kahlil, and Isaiah Thomas is doing his thing. They’re showing anyone can do it,” he said. “There’s a lot of little guards out there that can play the game, you just have to go out there and show what you can do.”

Keene added that he's thought about possibly declaring for the NBA Draft after this year, but is only concerned with his current team right now. 

"I've thought about it because I'm kind of hot right now," he said. "I’ve got to weight my options; you'll never know what people say. As of right now, I'm just trying to win more games." 

Most of all, the now superstar will continue having fun, and so will the Chippewas, until Keene packs up and moves on from Central Michigan.