Two years of aggressive recruiting and attention by University of Maine men’s basketball coach John Giannini paid off after all.

Almost two years after two-time NEWS All-Maine Team member and South Portland High graduate Chris Markwood ended Maine’s courtship by accepting a scholarship to play ball for the University of Notre Dame, the Pine Tree State native is returning home.

“Chris was part of a team that won a Big East championship regular season title and appeared in the NCAA tournament twice,” said Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey in a press release. “We fully support Chris’ decision to leave Notre Dame and transfer to Maine. He always will be part of our basketball family here.”

NCAA rules prohibit Giannini from commenting on incoming recruits or transfer students until after they have either signed letters of intent or, in the case of transfers, officially enrolled at their new school.

It appears that Giannini’s recruiting policy of going hard after top choices, wishing them well even if they do pick another school, and leaving lines of communication open has paid off for the second time this year as Markwood is the second transfer from a Big East school to come to the Bears. Boston College transfer Ludmil “Udo” Hadjisotirov, a guard, is eligible to start playing for the Bears in a Dec. 30 tournament game in Tennessee.

Markwood, who was named Gatorade Player of the Year and Maine’s Mr. Basketball for the 1999-2000 season, played 24 games for Notre Dame with no starts. He missed his entire freshman season after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery (September, 2000) and then played in 18 games as a sophomore, averaging 0.4 points and 0.3 rebounds per game.

This season, Markwood has appeared in six of the Irish’s 10 games, logging a total of 10 minutes with one defensive rebound, an assist, and two turnovers.

Because he was red-shirted as a freshman, Markwood has 21/2 seasons of eligibility, but due to an NCAA rule requiring athletes to complete four seasons of eligibility in five years, Markwood will have the equivalent of just over 11/2 years of eligibility. He must sit out the next two (2003 spring and fall) semesters.

As a senior at South Portland, Markwood averaged 16.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.5 assists after missing the first seven weeks of the season with a torn calf muscle. As a junior, he averaged 21.5 points, 6.3 assists, and 4.9 rebounds.

According to Tom Noie, the Notre Dame men’s basketball beat writer for the South Bend Tribune, Markwood had been thinking about transferring for a couple of weeks.

Markwood told Noie it was something he needed to do right now to get on with his basketball career and get some significant playing time. Even with the graduation of two key players this coming off-season, it might still take some time for him to work himself up the team depth chart.

Markwood is currently listed as the No. 4 shooting guard and No. 5 guard overall in Notre Dame’s four-guard rotation.

“He said it was never a question of ‘if I transfer, where will I go? It’s if I transfer’ because his choice was definitely going to be Maine,” said Noie.