Post by bigsaintg on Oct 17, 2012 17:34:47 GMT -5
Unique McLean, a versatile 6-foot point guard, is just a freshman in high school and already has college offers.
M. Wingate
Unique McLean
The bouncy guard from Team Scan has offers from Detroit, St. Francis (NY) and Siena. His AAU coach David Gates also listed interest from Providence, UConn, Rutgers, Manhattan, Temple, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Robert Morris.
Only a freshman but McLean has some Varsity basketball experience. As an eighth grader, McLean played Varsity basketball for Hoosac High School in Troy, NY. He definitely held his own and had many coaches tracking his progress.
As he continues to develop, coach believes his point guard skills needs to follow suit. He got a jump start last year and will also get a chance to play the point on the Varsity level this year as well. "He's going to play the point. He played the point last year for his high school as an eighth grader," coach said. "He played Varsity basketball and that's a huge accomplishment for an eighth grade kid being in a high school setting."
He has the skill set and intangibles to be the next great guard out of New York and coach Gates believes he'll do just that. "I think when it's all said and done he's going to be a real high major player," coach said. "He already holds offers from some good schools and with the help of our program and his high school, we'll definitely prepare him for the next level."
He's had plenty of success in his young basketball career and his coach credits two things. "Hard work and team work," coach Gates said. "He went from being the man on the seventh grade level to last year playing eighth grade with some of the top players. It definitely humbled him and showed him how to be a team player."
Despite being 6-foot, McLean plays off the ball a lot. It's not because he's not a good point guard though. "He can definitely play with the bigger guys because of his athletic ability," coach said. "He can jump out the gym so coaches stand to play him out of position."
McLean is certainly playing his way into elite status. He has high major interest and continues to attract more schools. Pittsburgh, Robert Morris ad Rutgers have been to his workouts recently to check him out and Robert Morris recently called about him. His recruitment will only continue to grow as he gets more comfortable playing the point, which is the position coach Gates believes he'll eventually have to play.