Know Your Team: Marcus Capers
London Lightning
6'4
Guard
From Winter Haven, Florida
2xNBLC Champion
2020 DPOY
After many years of loyal service it is hard to imagine London Lightning basketball without Marcus Capers - but that continuous spot on their roster he has repeatedly earned.
In his freshman year with Lake Region High School in Eagle Lake, Florida, he led the team with 18 points per game, and went on to be the leading rebounder the next season and captained the team in the third. For his senior season, he joined Monteverde Academy, who ended the season with a perfect record and were rated the fourth-best high school team by USA Today.
Capers joined the NCAA Division 1 team the Washington State Cougars in 2008, becoming the team's starting shooting guard the following year. In his junior season, he finished third on the team in field shooting and reached the National Invitational Tournament semi-finals in 2011. The Cougars reached the final four after a 69-66 overtime win over Northwestern before losing to Wichita State in the semi-final.
In his senior season, he again was the team's third-best field shooter as well as the leader in blocks. He finished his Washington State career as the all-time leader in games played and with statistics of 5.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game on an average 52% field shooting. In 2012 he signed his first professional contract with the Helsinki Seagulls in Finland, for whom he averaged 16.2 points and 8.4 rebounds in two seasons and earned them promotion to the Finnish first division.
Capers then played his first professional season in Canada with the Mississauga Power, for whom he averaged 11.4 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.6 blocks on the 2014-15 season. Next year he moved to the London Lightning and appeared in 56 games his first season for the team, going on the win his first championship - and London's third - the following year.
He rejoined London the following season, at the end of which he had improved end-of-season averages for the club with 7.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists while capturing his second NBLC Championship. 2018-19 would be his fourth consecutive season for the Lightning, which he opened with 15 points and 14 rebounds against the St. John's Edge.
This season saw Capers' numbers change dramatically: his opening double-double was the first of five in the season, at the end of which he averaged in double-digits for the first time in Canada, with 10.4 points to go with 5.5 average rebounds.
The following season he played just twenty-one games for London in the shortened season, but he posted NBLC career-best averages of 13.2 points and 5.3 assists. On February 15th 2020 he had his best game for the Lightning, posting 29 points against St. John's. One of the top defensive players in all of the league, at the season's premature end he was named Defensive Player of the Year. It was an impressive performance from Capers sadly brought to an early end, but one that showed the Lightning veteran still has a lot to give for the fans and his new home in Canada.
Picture: Derek Ruttan
