One of the many star players on the Palo Verde Varsity Basketball and Track team is Marques Pacheco. Pacheco always brings the utmost energy to his team, while setting his teammates up with his exceptional playmaking. He also brings an amazing and caring attitude to the Hope Squad, where he is trained in suicide prevention through public awareness. 

Pacheco has been playing basketball legitimately for around four years now. His three main positions are small forward, power forward, and shooting guard, showing how versatile of a player he can be. He has shown great passion for the sport since he was young but one day he decided to start seriously playing.

“I grew up around it, and I finally said to myself one day, let’s give it a shot.” Pacheco expressed.

Throughout his few years of playing, he made many memories with his coaches, teammates, and the sport in general. This is one of the countless reasons he loves playing. 

He continues to work on his game and one day, if given the chance, he would love to play professionally.

Pacheco began his track career during the Covid-19 lockdown. He joined because it was the only sport taking place at the time, but ended up falling in love with it. Till this day, he continues to run and compete to his fullest potential at every meet.

“The most important thing I learned from both sports is that you have to work for thousands of hours if you want thousands to watch you work.”

Pacheco takes his life off the courts just as seriously as his work on the courts.

In reference to having a similar work ethic in both sports and academics, Pacheco said, “Yes, one hundred percent. When you fail or lose something you don’t just stand there and mope around. You have to get up and learn from your failures and losses to keep moving.”

Ending off his senior year strong with being on two Varsity teams, having a stellar academic streak, and making loving memories with his team, he expressed how much it meant when he was first moved up through his hard work. While he will continue to be an amazing athlete and student for the rest of his 2022 school year, his future onwards is looking bright.