Before the season even began, Marcus Tibbs knew he had plenty to prove both on the basketball court and in the classroom.

Two years removed from playing organized hoops, Tibbs returned to coach Jeremy Eggers’ Bellevue College squad for the 2012-13 season without any illusions about what the year meant for his hopes of enrolling and playing at a four-year college. He would not only need to play big minutes, but show he could produce and handle a team as the full-time point guard.

And he would have to do all of that while proving he could continue to keep his academic work on track, something that had previously stalled his budding career.

“Before anything, it was about my school work,” he said. “I was taking care of that first.”

That work had already paid off by the time the basketball season rolled around, as Tibbs finished the first quarter with a 3.8 grade point average, his best to date. On the court, things were going smoothly as well.

“I kicked off the season pretty well,” he said. “Everything was just starting to click.”

A 28-point effort helped his team to the finals of the Bulldogs’ tournament and Tibbs said both individually and as a team, the chemistry was apparent. The Bulldogs put on a midseason win streak before dropping consecutive games to Whatcom and Shoreline, and hoped to use a televised home game against Peninsula College to regain some momentum.

Despite its location in Port Angeles, the Pirates’ roster was composed of only a single player from the Olympic Peninsula and had a number of players from in and around Tibbs’ native Tacoma.

He said the postseason implications combined with a familiarity amongst players led to an atmosphere that grew in intensity as the game wore on. By the time Tibbs pushed his team’s lead to ten points as the fourth quarter clock ticked down, tensions had grown past the breaking point.

Peninsula College’s Arnold Anderson was called for his fifth and final personal foul on the play and threw an elbow in the direction of Tibbs before being led away by teammates. But before he could be escorted off the court, the seasons of both players took a dramatic turn. According to charging papers and an account from a Bellevue Police officer who viewed video footage of the game, Anderson turned and landed a blindsided punch to Tibbs’ jaw, breaking it and ending his Bellevue College career in the process.

Tibbs was unable to comment on the nature of the incident because of pending litigation, but he said it was the last way he expected to finish his time on the court for Eggers and BC.

“It was devastating,” he said of the news his season was over. “But once it hit me, I knew I had to do the best I could to get back into school. My goals were still the same off the court.”

While his team tried to regroup without their emotional leader and floor general, Tibbs spent the next six weeks on a liquid diet with his jaw wired shut. It was more than three months before he could get back on the basketball court and two more before he could participate in full scrimmages and contact drills.

During that time, the same schoolwork that cost him time on the court became his lifesaver and even though he was unable to play, Tibbs continued coaching his two youth basketball teams through the select program Friends of Hoop.

“Being in the game basically kept me going,” he said, adding he installed hand signals to call plays for his team while he was unable to talk.

Michael Crosby, a 16-year-old and student at Bellevue Christian School, said he has played for Tibbs for three years and even when compared to local coaching legends like recently retired Mike Downs at BCS, Tibbs stands out.

“He cares a lot about his players,” Crosby said. “Sometimes he will just call me out of the blue and give me that confidence boost.”

Tibbs said that is a lesson he learned from Eggers, a man he said is like a second father and whom he has known since his time at Decatur High School. For Eggers, it has been no surprise how Tibbs handled the incident and maintained his focus as a coach and student-athlete.

“As a basketball player and student-athlete and a citizen, he is a role model,” Eggers said. “I expect big things out of him.”

After narrowing his choices to three schools, Tibbs ultimately chose to head north to continue his career in education and is set to begin studying Kinesiology and playing basketball for the University of Victoria in August. He said Eggers and the rest of the coaching staff at BC played a crucial role in connecting him to the Vikes, which finished 20-9 overall last season.

“I fell in love with it,” he said, adding he plans to minor in Education with plans of someday becoming a teacher. “I want to get back to coaching to give back.”

Some of his current youth players were in the stands the night of the punch that ended his season, and Tibbs said he hopes they will remember the ensuing months of perseverance far more than the action that led to them.

“Even when you get knocked down, you stay strong and positive.”