Cam Marotta isn't a name you'll hear on game day or a player you'll see in highlights, but he's someone you should know.
The recruited walk-on from Mequon chose to play basketball at Marquette instead of football at Butler.
“I really try to provide energy to the team I would say,” Marotta explained of his role on the team. “That's probably one of my main focuses. Growing up I was obviously surrounded by Marquette. I went to every game from when I was three years old so I always loved Marquette, but I never really thought that I'd be coming here, especially to play basketball.”
Just like his dad.
Marc Marotta, Marquette's only three-time first-team Academic All-American, built a legacy, but sadly isn't here to see his son carry it on.
On April 8, 2015, the father of four, political figure, lawyer, and Marquette basketball star died of a brain aneurysm.
“It's something that you never think of really,” Cam said. “That you're going to get a call like this someday. It just throws your whole world for a spin, so you're in shock for months afterwards even,” he said of losing his father.
“You don't even think about it until you stop seeing your dad around every once in a while.”
Cam misses the little things like, “being able to tell him this is what happened in practice or this is how we're doing,” he described.
And he'd tell him all about that big Villanova win.
“When everyone stormed the court, I got a chance to run up in the stands and give my mom a hug,” he recalled. “So that would have been something cool I would tell him about.”
And someday he will, but for now, Cam knows he's watching.
“I like to think he's looking down at all of our games, so I thought he'd be pretty proud of that win,” Marotta said.
Cam Marotta is a player you should know, and his number may be one you recognize.
“Every day I come to my locker and I see Marc Marotta No. 52 on [his locker] and I think that's something really special,” he said.
And just like Marquette has No. 52 to cheer them on, Cam will always have No. 52 to cheer him on.
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