Mac McClung

Mac McClung
No. 2 – Georgetown Hoyas
Position Point guard
League Big East Conference
Personal information
Born January 6, 1999
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight 175 lb (79 kg)
Career information
High school Gate City (Gate City, Virginia)
College Georgetown (2018-present)

Matthew "Mac" McClung[1] is an American basketball player who attended Gate City High School in Gate City, Virginia. He has committed to play for the Georgetown Hoyas at the NCAA Division I level. A three-star recruit and among the top-ranked high school players in Virginia, McClung rose to national acclaim online in 2017 for his slam dunking ability.

Early life

McClung grew up in Gate City, Virginia, a small town of about 2,000 in the Tri-Cities metropolitan area straddling the Tennessee–Virginia border, where he initially began playing football—a sport that is far more popular than basketball in Southwest Virginia.[2] Family members recalled in a 2018 interview that McClung was extraordinarily competitive as a child. His father Marcus said of him, "Mac was just born with it. If you’re fixing a bowl of cereal, he’s going to make a competition." His older sister Anna would add, "He would just come at you every day, no matter how small he was." His parents built a basement gym in their home, initially for Anna, but Mac would regularly use it as he grew up—though he was so competitive that his father would frequently ban him from the gym to allow Anna to work out undisturbed.[3]

He received his first significant exposure to basketball just before entering the seventh grade, when his mother Lenoir signed him up for a local youth league. Scott Vermillion, who was McClung's coach at Gate City High School, recalled in 2018, "He ducked his head inside for a minute and basically never left."[3] McClung soon became more interested in basketball and began training for the sport regularly, with hopes of making the National Basketball Association (NBA),[4] and his father was silently pleased when he gave up football after his freshman year of high school.[3] According to McClung, his shooting form improved after breaking his arm while snowboarding in eighth grade, and he honed the skill with Greg Ervin, the former head coach at Gate City High.[5]

High school career

McClung graduated from Gate City High School in Gate City, Virginia (pictured).

McClung first started dunking as a sophomore playing varsity basketball at Gate City High School.[4] He grew in profile as an acrobatic dunker through the rest of his high school career. MaxPreps labeled him "one of nation's most exciting players."[6] As a junior, on February 24, 2017, he scored a career-high 64 points in a loss to Dan River High School at the Virginia High School League (VHSL) Region 2A West tournament.[7] It was the best scoring performance in school history and the highest among Virginia public schools since 1984.[8] After the season, he was averaging 29.0 points, 5.5 assists, and 3.0 steals per game for the Blue Devils and was tabbed Southwest Virginia Boys' Basketball Player of the Year by the Bristol Herald Courier.[5] In the summer, he committed to play for Rutgers in college.[9]

Prior to his final high school season, on October 6, 2017, McClung decommitted from Rutgers.[10] Over one week later, he committed to Georgetown.[11] On December 12, he made his senior debut by scoring 47 points, shooting 18-of-23, in a 96–43 win over Lee High School.[6] Among those in attendance was Georgetown head coach Patrick Ewing.[12] On January 11, 2018, after opposing coach James Schooler reportedly told him "you're going to Georgetown to sit," McClung scored 44 points against Fern Creek High School of Louisville, Kentucky at the Arby's Classic tournament in Bristol, Tennessee.[13] McClung broke the VHSL single-season scoring record previously held by Hall of Famer Allen Iverson during the 2018 VHSL regional playoffs on February 21, surpassing Iverson's record of 948 points in 25 games—five fewer than it took Iverson to amass the previous record.[2] He ended his high school career with Gate City's first state championship, scoring 47 points in an 80–65 title-game win over Staunton's Robert E. Lee High. The 47 points broke a VHSL all-classes scoring record for a championship game that had been held by current NBA player J. J. Redick.[14] McClung finished the season with 1,153 points and 2,801 for his career, also a VHSL all-classes record, and was again named Southwest Virginia Player of the Year by the Herald Courier.[15]

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Mac McClung
PG		 Gate City (VA) Gate City High School (VA) 6 ft 1.7 in (1.87 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Oct 15, 2017 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals:3/5 stars   247Sports:3/5 stars    ESPN:3/5 stars
Overall recruiting rankings:   247Sports: 285, 11 (VA), 52 (PG)  ESPN: 9 (VA), 41 (PG)
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "Georgetown 2018 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
  • "ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
  • "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved January 12, 2018.

    Personal life

    McClung was born on January 6, 1999 to Marcus and Lenoir McClung. According to a 2018 story in the ESPN web outlet The Undefeated, McClung "won his first battle" minutes after his birth. During the birth, his umbilical cord was tightly wrapped around his neck; his father recalled, "He was blue as a Smurf." The attending physicians quickly freed him, and he almost immediately recovered.[3] His parents met at Virginia Tech, where Marcus played football[16][17] and Lenoir was a cheerleader.[3] His father went on to become an attorney, serving as Commonwealth Attorney for Scott County, Virginia as of 2018,[2][3] while his mother teaches driver's education at Gate City High.[3] According to a 2018 story in The Washington Post, as well as the aforementioned story in The Undefeated, his parents' background greatly aided the younger McClung in his athletic pursuits. His father served as trainer for much of his youth, and the family was also able to afford placing him on a Richmond-based AAU travel team.[2] His sister Anna, who completed her high school soccer career as the VHSL's all-time goal scoring leader,[3] went on to play the sport at Florida State and Tennessee, while his uncle Seth competed with two Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. His cousins Corein and Collette both played ice hockey at the professional level.[17]

    References

    1. ↑ "Hoyas Sign Three to National Letters of Intent" (Press release). Georgetown Hoyas. November 13, 2017. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
    2. 1 2 3 4 Wallace, Ava (March 1, 2018). "Country Star". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
    3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Palmer, Chris (July 13, 2018). "Georgetown Freshman Mac McClung Is Electrifying, Dynamic – and White". The Undefeated. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
    4. 1 2 Hazan, Danny (July 21, 2017). "Arrival of the Mac". SLAM. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
    5. 1 2 Hayes, Tim (April 9, 2017). "Boys Basketball Player of the Year: Gate City's Mac McClung". Bristol Herald Courier. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
    6. 1 2 Ostrander, Lynden (December 15, 2017). "Georgetown-bound Mac McClung is one of nation's most exciting players". MaxPreps.com. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
    7. ↑ Hayes, Tim (February 24, 2017). "McClung's 64 points not enough for Gate City in Region 2A West boys semis". Bristol Herald Courier. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
    8. ↑ Tichenor, Alex (February 23, 2017). "Dan River overcomes McClung's 64-point night, downs Gate City to advance to region final". Danville Register & Bee. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
    9. ↑ Agnoli, Matt (August 3, 2017). "2018 point guard Mac McClung commits to Rutgers hoops". 247Sports.com. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
    10. ↑ Breitman, Aaron (October 6, 2017). "3-Star Point Guard Mac McClung Decommits From Rutgers Basketball". OnTheBanks.com. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
    11. ↑ Snow, Brian (October 15, 2017). "Georgetown lands athletic guard". Scout.com. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
    12. ↑ Goetz, Casey (December 12, 2017). "Patrick Ewing watches Gate City's Mac McClung score 47 points". WCYB-TV. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
    13. ↑ Smith, Cam (January 11, 2018). "Opposing coach told Mac McClung: 'You're going to Georgetown to sit.' Then McClung scored 44". USATodayHighSchoolSports.com. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
    14. ↑ "Mac McClung drops 47, leads Gate City to first state title". USA Today. March 10, 2018. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
    15. ↑ Hayes, Tim (April 8, 2018). "BOYS BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Gate City senior Mac McClung". Bristol Herald Courier. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
    16. 1 2 Hunt, Toderrick (August 24, 2017). "Rutgers basketball commit Mac McClung has ties you won't believe, including 1 to a rapper". NJ.com. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
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