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LINKS: Georgetown’s Mac McClung Named National Freshman of the Week

The selection for this week’s Wayman Tisdale award puts the Hoya in the company of Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett...

By whipple
NCAA Basketball: Campbell at Georgetown Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

Georgetown Hoyas’ freshman guard and human highlight reel Mac McClung has been named the Wayman Tisdale National Freshman of the Week for games ending the week of Dec. 23. McClung was selected by CBSSports.com’s Matt Norlander, in partnership with the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. Duke’s Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett were prior week winners, along with Boston College’s Wynston Tabbs.

Earlier in the week, McClung scored 38 points in an overtime victory over the Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans and was rewarded as the Big East Freshman of the Week. Mac also scored 14 points in a win against the Appalachian State Mountaineers.

Frosh Watch: Georgetown dunking and scoring sensation Mac McClung earns Freshman of the Week honors | CBSSPORTS

What a great name, by the way. College hoops fans are blessed to have the top two frosh dunkers also sport terrific names. It all helps with the sell. McClung, who’s 6-2 and comes by way of Gate City, Virginia, had a career-best 38 points on Saturday. Georgetown won 102-94 in overtime against Little Rock, and McClung’s showing was the best for a Hoyas freshman since 1962-63.

McClung had a four-point play in overtime that clinched Georgetown’s W against Little Rock. It was a big moment for a program in need of more consistency in order to enter back into national relevancy -- and even Big East relevancy.

Mac McClung earns national freshman of the week honors | AUGUSTAFREEPRESS

McClung was selected by CBSSports.com’s Matt Norlander, in partnership with the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. Norlander’s popular weekly freshman watch column will continue to feature nation’s the top freshmen each week in addition to the national player of the week. Later in the season, the USBWA will release a midseason watch list before naming finalists for the award. This season marks the first time a weekly national freshman of the week will be selected and, each Tuesday through Feb. 26, a standout first-year player will be chosen for the honor...

Dick Vitale’s roundball chatter | ESPN

DIAPER DANDY OF THE WEEK: Mac McClung, Georgetown He scored 38 points in a win over Arkansas-Little Rock.

Game Log Table
Rk Date Opponent MP FG FGA FG% 3P 3PA 3P% FT FTA TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS
1 2018-11-06 Maryland-Eastern Shore W 23 4 10 .400 0 2 .000 0 0 2 1 2 0 3 1 8
2 2018-11-10 Central Connecticut W 24 2 10 .200 0 5 .000 0 0 1 4 2 0 2 2 4
3 2018-11-13 @ Illinois W 28 6 14 .429 0 4 .000 0 0 3 4 2 0 3 3 12
4 2018-11-16 N Loyola Marymount L 20 0 3 .000 0 3 .000 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 3 0
5 2018-11-18 N South Florida W 17 3 7 .429 1 3 .333 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 1 7
6 2018-11-24 Campbell W 23 2 7 .286 2 4 .500 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 6
7 2018-11-28 Richmond W 32 4 12 .333 2 5 .400 6 8 3 1 0 0 0 2 16
8 2018-12-03 Liberty W 24 5 9 .556 1 3 .333 1 1 3 1 0 1 4 2 12
9 2018-12-08 @ Syracuse L 25 6 16 .375 3 11 .273 3 5 1 2 1 0 1 1 18
10 2018-12-15 SMU L 29 3 8 .375 0 2 .000 7 9 2 3 0 0 1 2 13
11 2018-12-18 Appalachian State W 20 4 11 .364 0 3 .000 6 7 1 1 0 0 3 4 14
12 2018-12-22 Little Rock W 38 10 21 .476 4 9 .444 14 16 2 3 2 1 2 0 38
12 Games 303 49 128 .383 13 54 .241 37 46 22 21 10 2 21 22 148
Provided by CBB at Sports Reference: View Original Table
Generated 12/26/2018.

About | WAYMANTISDALE.ORG

The Wayman L. Tisdale Foundation, Inc. (the “Tisdale Foundation”), honors the life and legacy of professional basketball player and smooth jazz bass guitarist, Wayman Tisdale. Together with a host of collaborators, the Tisdale Foundation identifies eligible individuals with unmet prosthetic needs and pays for cutting-edge prosthetic care. Operating out of the Wayman L. Tisdale Specialty Clinic in Wayman Tisdale’s hometown, Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Tisdale Foundation changes lives throughout the United States.

Former Hoyas coach Thompson: ‘I love Mac McClung’ | TIMESNEWS.NET

Georgetown coach Patrick Ewing was pleased with McClung’s aggressiveness on the offensive end, an initiative Ewing said that was not necessarily coach-inspired.

“It is something he has done on his own,” Ewing said. “He’s an attacking type of player and because of that he will get more calls from the officials.”

McClung’s driving style certainly was not lost on SMU coach Tim Jankovich. While his pregame scouting report revealed an opponent whose big men were well versed in spacing and how to nullify a double-team, it also acknowledged that the Hoyas’ guards — primarily McClung and fellow freshman James Akinjo — were relentless in their pursuit of the rim.

McClung Named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week | GUHOYAS

In Saturday’s win, the Hoyas were up four in overtime when McClung hit his fourth 3-pointer of the afternoon, drew the foul and converted the four-point play for the 98-90 advantage over Little Rock. Georgetown held on for the win to improve to 9-3 on the season. McClung scored a career-high 38 points (10-21 FGA, 4-9 3FGA, 14-16 FTA) in 39 minutes against the Trojans. He and classmate James Akinjo (Oakland, Calif. / Salesian College Preparatory) combined for 63 points with Akinjo adding a career-high 25 points. For the week, McClung averaged 29.5 mpg, 26.0 ppg, 2.0 apg and 1.5 rpg in the two contests.

Meet the Georgetown freshmen who are trying to put Hoyas basketball back on the map | WASHINGTONPOST

The second-year coach put in the legwork to recruit McClung, too, folding his 7-foot frame into vehicles for multiple six-hour drives down to remote Gate City, Va. But as much as Akinjo and McClung responded to Ewing’s effort, connected with his vision and appreciated his honesty, LeBlanc deserves some recruiting credit as well. The forward from Baton Rouge committed first, in October 2017, then nudged McClung to do the same when he met the Virginian on McClung’s unofficial visit. McClung committed two days later, and LeBlanc set to work on Akinjo.

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