Lino Mark’s star is on the rise

Last season when he was sitting behind Caleb Foster at Notre Dame High School, Mark knew that the benefit of soaking up all the knowledge and tendencies from a Duke signee who was named Player of the Year was substantial.

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2024 Rankings: Rivals150 | Team | Position

2025 Rankings: Rivals150 | Team

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“I knew my time would come,” Mark said. “I knew what my role was on that team last year; we had Caleb, Dusty Stromer and Mercy Miller, so we didn’t need any scorers. I just had to do everything I could, the little things. I just had to stay ready.”

In the support role, Mark averaged five points, two assists and two rebounds a game.

Now, in a starring role with the loss of Foster, who is now a freshman at Duke, and Stromer, who is now a freshman at Gonzaga, Mark is averaging 18 points, while shooting 53 percent from the field, grabbing five rebounds and handing out 5.5 assists a game.

Earlier this season, Mark set a new school record for assists, dishing out 20 in a win.

“I knew coming into this year things would be a lot different,” Mark said. “I knew I’d have to step up and that’s what I did. For me, it’s that simple.”

The steep spike in production has earned him offers from San Diego, Texas A&M, TCU, Northwestern, California, UCSB and Washington State.

Mark has already taken a visit to UCSB and has plans to take visits to Texas A&M, TCU, Northwestern, California and Providence after the season.

At 6-foot-2, Mark is a speedy guard with a lethal blend of quickness and athleticism. He’s adept at knifing into the lane and finishing with high percentage shots but knocks down the perimeter jump shot at an efficient clip. Mark brings the same blue-collar mentality on the defensive end, hounding opposing guards on the perimeter and all over the floor.

“I love to play fast,” said Mark, a junior. “I get comparisons to Russell Westbrook and De’Aaron Fox; I love to use my speed to my advantage on both ends. I want to be somewhere that plays that way.”

As for his timeline for sorting through his recruitment, Mark said the picture could become clearer by the summer.

“I definitely want to see what happens during the season and when spring ball starts and all that,” Mark said. “But I want to get down to about five or six by the end of July. After that, I’ll start my officials and see where I’m feeling comfortable and go from there. Right now, I’m all in trying to win this state title.”