DALLAS, Tex. — When Marquette sophomore Chase Ross left his home state of Texas in 2020 to play at a prep academy in the New England area, it was with the hope that a Division I program would notice him.
It's a day Ross' mother Marnecha Johnson still remembers vividly.
“I think I cried on the way to the airport going back," she shared.
The Marquette guard spent his first two years of high school playing at Plano West, which is located 20 minutes north of Dallas.
See y’all in Dallas!#MUBB | #WeAreMarquette pic.twitter.com/ajoliDgbEi
— Marquette Basketball (@MarquetteMBB) March 27, 2024
However, with senior year on the horizon, it was time to get serious about his future.
“It was just like, you know, you need to get seen," she recalled. "You need to get some exposure, and actually he was going to a trainer at the time for basketball."
His trainer had attended a prep academy in the New England area and recommended Ross look into some of those schools.
The Marquette guard and his family decided that the Cushing Academy was the right for Ross, which was located in Ashburnham, Massachusetts.
“Him going off that far for the first time, my only child, it was really hard for me," Johnson recalled.
However, Ross' leap of faith to leave home dominoed into an offer from Shaka Smart to play for Marquette.
“I saw Shaka at Texas and you know, I was just kind of like, okay, you know, he's a great coach," Johnson laughed. "I remembered him at VCU and everything, but I just never expected my son to be playing for him.”
As fate would have it, Marquette's first Sweet 16 game in more than a decade is at the American Airlines Center, which is an arena he grew up going to.
#Marquette is officially Sweet 16 bound.#MUBB | #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/IQ9Imdozw4
— Ashley Washburn (@ashleyjwashburn) March 27, 2024
“I've never really had a vision of play there, but I mean, it's definitely surreal going back," Ross smiled. "We rarely go down south, so it's definitely fun, especially going 20 minutes away from home.”
“I'm just excited for him, and I want him to stay focused and the whole team come out and play and give [NC State] energy," Johnson added. "Let's get the win. Let's go Marquette.”
Ross shared he knows of at least 40 people who will be in attendance Friday night for his Dallas homecoming.
Marquette versus NC State tips off at 6:09 p.m. CT.
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