Craft Elevates His Game, Buckeyes Advance To Sweet 16
March 18, 2012Indians Option OF Ezekiel Carrera to Columbus
March 18, 2012Canton GlenOak’s CJ McCollum is the face of all things March Madness following Lehigh’s upset of Duke earlier this weekend. Now garnering national attention, McCollum — he of the top-five in NCAA Division I scoring — has turned the tables in a recent discussion about the local Ohio schools that chose a different path when it came to handing out scholarship offers.
It’s not about McCollum, who went to GlenOak High in Plain Township, Ohio, being snubbed by the local Big Ten bullies, either. It’s about not being good enough for the MAC.
Akron was interested.
“They obviously only had one scholarship offer. They gave it to [7-foot center] Zeke Marshall,” McCollum said.
Fun stat: Marshall averaged 10.4 points per game this season.
Kent State gave him a look.
“But they offered it to [guard] Randal Holt.”
Fun stat: Holt averaged 12.7 points per game this season.
Miami (Ohio) recruited him a bit.
“But they didn’t offer me.”
Really fun stat: The RedHawks finished 9-21 this season.
So, McCollum settled for Lehigh and the Patriot League. Think the MAC schools might regret that one?
Obviously a scorer, the Lehigh standout is a shooting guard in a point guard’s body. McCollum admits that he was undersized and “a bit chubby” in high school and throughout the AAU circuit, but the 6-foot-3-inch guard has since had a bit of a growth spurt.
Two seasons ago, McCollum put up a Herculean effort in a NCAA Tournament loss to Kansas. This time around, his efforts bared fruit as he is a Sunday win away from the Sweet 16 — just not for a representative from the MAC.
[Related: Craft Elevates His Game, Buckeyes Advance To Sweet 16]
3 Comments
stark county is a wonderful pipeline of hs basketball & he’s proof, really would of liked to see him play for Akron, but loved watching him beat duke! Maybe he’ll don the wine n gold soon? (2nd round?)
Wait until you see what Myles Hamilton does at Kennesaw State! Eric Flannery said he was the best player he has ever coached, and Flan has coached a lot of great players. Now that is a MAC snub. Kid is an absolute beast.
I understand Akron offering their scholarship to Zeke. 7′ players don’t grow on trees. There is no excuse for Kent or CSU passing I’m the kid though.