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Oct 8, 2011

"Turn your face toward the sun and the shadows will fall behind you." --Maori Proverb

Four Shelters Later, Still a Star Athlete

After holding together his family through a house fire, six address changes since his sophomore year and a violent encounter with his mother's boyfriend, high school basketball star Marquis Barnett told recruiters he is not about to abandon them now, insisting on staying local. "Marquis is fiercely loyal to his family," said Ron Naclerio, Barnett's coach in New York the past two seasons. Barnett is one of about 2,500 young people ages 13 to 17 living in shelters across the five boroughs. He has endured six-hour round-trip subway rides to school and, along the way, has been supported by the kindness of others struck by his sincerity, including a coach who buys him clothes and a social studies teacher who feeds him daily.