Marcos Antônio Abdalla "Marquinhos" Leite (born March 23, 1952) is a retired Brazilian

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

 basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 player. He represented Brazil in three Olympic Games

Summer Olympic Games

The Summer Olympic Games or the Games of the Olympiad are an international multi-sport event, occurring every four years, organized by the International Olympic Committee. Medals are awarded in each event, with gold medals for first place, silver for second and bronze for third, a tradition that...

 and four FIBA World Championship

FIBA World Championship

The FIBA World Championship is an international basketball competition contested by the men's national teams of the members of the International Basketball Federation , the sport's global governing body...

 competitions.

Early international career

Leite, a 6'10 center

Center (basketball)

The center, colloquially known as the five or the post, is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game. The center is normally the tallest player on the team, and often has a great deal of strength and body mass as well...

 from Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

, first suited up for Brazil at the age of 18 in the 1970 FIBA World Championship

1970 FIBA World Championship

The 1970 FIBA World Championship was an international basketball competition hosted by Yugoslavia at Sarajevo, Split, Karlovac, Skopje and Ljubljana, from May 10 to 24 , 1970...

. "Marquinhos" played sparingly, scoring 6 points in 4 appearances as Brazil took the silver medal. Leite remained with the Brazilian national basketball team

Brazil national basketball team

The Brazilian National Basketball Team represents Brazil in FIBA's basketball competitions.-Men's team:First drafted in 1922, the men's team has won two World Championships , three bronze Olympic medals , four Americas Championships and five Pan American Games .-Olympic Games:-FIBA...

 and was one of the team's top players as they won the gold in the 1971 Pan American games

Basketball at the 1971 Pan American Games

The Men's Basketball Tournament at the 1971 Pan American Games was held from July 31 to August 12, 1971 in Cali, Colombia.-Participating nations:-Preliminary round:...

 a year later. In 1972, Leite caught the eye of American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 college coaches as he averaged 16 points per game in the 1972 Summer Olympics

1972 Summer Olympics

The 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from August 26 to September 11, 1972....

 in Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

.

College career

Leite's Olympic performance caught the eye of Pepperdine University coach Gary Colson

Gary Colson

Gary Colson is an American basketball coach. The Logansport, Indiana native guided several college men's basketball teams, including Valdosta State University, Pepperdine University, University of New Mexico and California State University, Fresno. He compiled a 563-385 record over 34 seasons of...

. Colson recruited him to the California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 school, where he starred from 1973 to 1976. Leite made an immediate impact in the West Coast Athletic Conference

West Coast Conference

The West Coast Conference is an NCAA collegiate athletics conference consisting of nine member schools across the states of California, Oregon, Utah and Washington....

, earning second team All-WCAC honors as a freshman and first team honors as a sophomore.

As a junior in the 1975–76 season, Leite and junior college

Junior college

The term junior college refers to different educational institutions in different countries.-India:In India, most states provide schooling through 12th grade...

 transfer Dennis Johnson

Dennis Johnson

Dennis Wayne Johnson nicknamed "DJ", was an American professional basketball player for the National Basketball Association's Seattle SuperSonics, Phoenix Suns and Boston Celtics and coach of the Los Angeles Clippers...

 led the Waves to a conference title and the school's second division I NCAA tournament

NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship

The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination tournament held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball...

 appearance and first NCAA tournament win. The Waves beat Memphis State in the first round before losing to defending champion UCLA

UCLA Bruins men's basketball

The UCLA Bruins men's basketball program, established in 1920, owns a record 11 Division I NCAA championships. UCLA teams coached by John Wooden won 10 national titles in 12 seasons from 1964 to 1975, including 7 straight from 1967 to 1973. UCLA went undefeated a record 4 times, in 1964, 1967,...

 in the Sweet 16. Leite was named the WCAC player of the year

West Coast Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year

The West Coast Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year is a basketball award given to the most outstanding men's basketball player in the West Coast Conference. The award was first given following the 1952–53 season, when the conference was known as the California Basketball Association...

 and an honorable mention All-American

1976 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans

The Consensus 1976 College Basketball All-American team, as determined by aggregating the results of four major All-American teams. To earn "consensus" status, a player must win honors from a majority of the following teams: the Associated Press, the USBWA, The United Press International and the...

. Following the season, Marcos Leite informed Colson that he would forgo his final year of college eligibility to play professionally.

For his college career, Leite scored 1,119 points (18.7 points per game) and grabbed 638 rebounds (10.6 per game).

Professional and later international career

While at Pepperdine, Leite continued to represent his country as a member of Brazil's national team in the 1974 FIBA World Championship

1974 FIBA World Championship

The 1974 FIBA World Championship was an international basketball competition hosted by Puerto Rico from July 3 to 14, 1974.-Venues:- Competing nations :- Preliminary round :-Group A:-Group B:-Group C:-Classification round:-Final round:...

 and the 1975 Pan American Games

Basketball at the 1975 Pan American Games

The Men's Basketball Tournament at the 1975 Pan American Games was held from October 13 to October 25, 1975 in Mexico City, Mexico.-Participating nations:-Final ranking:-References:**...

. In later years, he was also a part of Brazil's 1978

1978 FIBA World Championship

The 1978 FIBA World Championship was an international basketball competition hosted by Philippines from October 1 to 14, 1978.Rizal Memorial Coliseum at Manila and Araneta Coliseum at Quezon City, Metro Manila were the venues for the event.-Venues:...

 and 1982 World Championship

1982 FIBA World Championship

The 1982 FIBA World Championship was an international basketball competition hosted by Colombia from August 15 to 28 , 1982.-Venues:- Competing nations :- Preliminary round :-Group A:-Group B:-Group C:-Classification round:-Final round:...

 squads and their 1980

Basketball at the 1980 Summer Olympics

Basketball at the 1980 Summer Olympics was held from July 20 to July 30 at the Olympiiski Indoor Stadium and at the CSKA Sports Palace, both located in Moscow. Finals of both men's and women's events were held 30 July at the Olympiiski Indoor Stadium....

 and 1984 Olympic

Basketball at the 1984 Summer Olympics

-Group B:-Championship bracket:-Classification brackets:5th–8th Place9th–12th Place-Preliminary Round:...

 teams.

Professionally, Leite played in his native Brazil (for Fluminense

Fluminense Football Club

Fluminense Football Club is a sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Founded in the beginning of the 20th century as a single-sport institution, Fluminense is today an umbrella organization for several teams in more than 16 different sport activities. The most popular endeavor of Fluminense,...

, Flamengo

Flamengo Basketball

Flamengo's Basketball team is a Brazilian professional team, part of the Clube de Regatas do Flamengo family.-Roster:-Noted coaches:*Miguel Angelo da Luz*Paulo Teixeira Sampaio "Chupeta"*Togo Renan Soares "Kanela"...

, EC Bredesco and EC Sírio) and in Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 (Synudine Bologna and Emerson Genova). While he was drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers

Portland Trail Blazers

The Portland Trail Blazers, commonly known as the Blazers, are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. They play in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The Trail Blazers originally played their home games in the...

 in the 1976 NBA Draft

1976 NBA Draft

The 1976 NBA Draft was the 30th annual draft of the National Basketball Association . The draft was held on June 8, 1976 before the 1976–77 season. In this draft, 18 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players...

(10th round, 162nd pick), he never played in the NBA. He retired in 1989.