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<\/p>\nMost kids who are being courted with scholarship offers by high major Division I college programs began playing basketball shortly after they learned to walk and run.<\/p>\n
Mac McClung is not like most kids.<\/p>\n
The 6-2, Class of 2018 guard from Gate City, Virginia tried playing with some friends on the playground or in driveways growing up, but it wasn\u2019t until seventh grade that he decided he wanted to try his hand at the sport.<\/p>\n
As an athlete, McClung considered himself a football player up to that point. But the allure of being a hooper pulled him away from the gridiron.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust the whole swag about basketball,\u201d McClung said. \u201cWith the kicks, the players and just all the swag that comes with being able to separate yourself with your game is what drew me to it. In seventh grade I told my dad I wanted to be the best I could be, so we\u2019ve been working out two, three times a day ever since. I want to get in the NBA and be a big factor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Having NBA dreams isn\u2019t out of the ordinary for a kid who falls in love with the sport. However, work ethic and focus to the point of dedicating just about every second of their leisure time to practice is typically what separates good players from great ones.<\/p>\n
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Because Gate City High is a relatively small school (enrollment wise) in Virginia, McClung knew he had to prove himself as a total unknown on the club circuit a couple years ago.<\/p>\n
As he recalls, while he was warming up before a pickup game the summer after his sophomore year of high school he noticed something totally different: His view of the rim as he was dunking for the first time. Since then, his literal rise hasn\u2019t ceased.<\/p>\n
McClung burst onto the radar of high school basketball enthusiasts within the last year as Youtube videos and mixtapes of some jaw-dropping dunks made the rounds on social media. Last summer, mid-major programs began to offer and following another aerial assault on the rims this spring he picked up his first two high-major offers \u2013 Rutgers and Georgetown.<\/p>\n
Having just wrapped up a successful three-game run with Team Loaded VA at the NY2LA Sports Summer Jam, one of the premier events in July and attended by almost every collegiate program in the country, McClung said he\u2019s now got programs like Marquette, Utah, Gonzaga, Arizona State and Virginia tracking his progress on the court.<\/p>\n