Mac McClung to Play in Allen Iverson Roundball Classic

Hey, have you heard about this guy Mac McClung? He’s a 6’2” guard who can jump exceptionally high. He scored 47 points en route to winning the Virginia State Championship and beating Allen Iverson’s points record. Mac has a pretty big following online that extends well beyond his high school in Gate City, VA. He likely could have played at any prep school in the nation but he decided to stay home and give his community a nightly show with baseline reverse jams and in-game-eastbay-funk-dunks on breakaways. Oh and did you know he’s coming to Georgetown? Yep.

Well, Mac is also coming to the 2018 Allen Iverson Roundball Classic in either Philadelphia or Hampton Roads, VA (see below). Taking place on April 21st, the Iverson Classic aims to be the most competitive “All-American”-type game in the nation by featuring “two teams comprised of the country’s most talented prospects.” Not only is Mac invited, he appears to be a headliner.

See that ‘gram? Final selection! It wasn’t like they picked teams on the school yard, they saved the best for last! McBounce is the friggin’ headliner!

The press release includes a statement from Allen Iverson, where Bubba Chuck said, “These young guys are the future... I’m proud to have every single one of them here.” Well, check out this graphic featuring Mac with A.I. from IversonClassic.com:

iversonclassic.com

The Daily Press out of Hampton/Newport News has a nice “who’s who” for the roster, as well as reporting in the headline that ‘McClung, Shaq’s son to play in second Allen Iverson Roundball Classic,’ and saying:

Perhaps the most-anticipated state recruit slated to appear is Mac McClung, a guard who will follow Iverson’s footsteps in heading to Georgetown. With plenty of his dunks and 3-pointers available to see on internet highlights, the 6-foot-2 star from southwest Virginia broke Iverson’s VHSL single-season scoring record as a senior and led Gate City High to the Class 2 state crown.

Word. McClung is certainly highlighted in most articles about the Iverson Classic roster, including Complex. Bleacher Report is also excited about Anfernee Simons a “a 5-star prospect and the No. 1 combo guard in his class” who just declared for the NBA draft. Kentucky fans are bragging about the selection of UK-signees Tyler Herro and Immanuel Quickley. Uncommitted Bahamian 6’2” guard Franco Miller is coming down from Crestwood Prep in Toronto. Also just released are the full list of the invitees, their teams, and the coaches:

Perhaps one of the cooler parts of the 2018 Iverson Classic Weekend is that on Thursday April 19th there will be “a day of events including Dunk Contest, 3 Point Shootout and more.” The final event, the “Allen Iverson Roundball Classic All American Game” will be on Saturday, April 21st. No one can definitively tell me where it’s going to be held, though.

While 2017’s Iverson Classic was held at Churchland High in Hampton Roads, Virginia, with some of the preliminary festivities at A.I.’s Bethel High School, this year’s location seems to still be up in the air. The Daily Press believes “[t]he event will be held in Hampton Roads at a site soon to be announced.” Adam Zagoria reiterates the press release, saying, “A location, schedule, venue, broadcast and ticket information will be announced later this week,” but tweeted that it is “in Philly” when sharing the roster image. That could just be from the press release coming out of PHILADELPHIA but there is speculation that the game could be hosted at a number of college-level gyms in the area, such as Temple where Iverson holds his annual summer celebrity game...

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Last year’s inaugural Iverson Classic appeared to be a big success—albeit more limited to regional attention than the national pull this year is promising. The score was a ridiculous 198-152, with Honor beating Loyalty. The Daily Press reported:

Later in the first half, Central Connecticut State signee Talek Williams, who won the dunk contest on the opening night Wednesday at Bethel, threw down a rim-rattling jam for Team Loyalty.

Despite the flashy plays from Team Loyalty, though, Team Honor led 98-70 at halftime. In adherence to the accepted all-star game credo, neither team played much defense through four NBA-style 12-minute quarters.

Rim-rattling, you say? No defense, you say? Certainly sounds like an All-Star game. Certainly sounds like Mac will be right at home. There are some video highlights from last year available via the local television news channel wavy.com.

Finally, the presence of Hall of Famer and Georgetown Legend Allen Iverson at last year’s banquet came out as a really nice touch for the athletes, as reported by The Virginian-Pilot:

Guard Matt Coleman, a standout at Maury High and Oak Hill Academy who has signed with Texas, said the game was fun. But what stood out to him was the banquet.

Coleman, who played in the Jordan Brand Classic, was sitting at his table when Iverson came up, pulled up a chair and gave an impromptu lecture. First a few players listened. Soon every player invited to the event was standing around their table listening to Iverson’s every word.

“It was cool,” said Coleman, rated the No. 29 player in the Class of 2017 by ESPN. “We got words of wisdom and he was being real with us.”

Coleman thinks this event will only grow... “Being that this is the first one, he had to put a lot of stuff together off the jump. But as time goes on, I think it will be tops like the Jordan Brand and McDonald’s All-American.”

The potential for both publicity and one-on-one time sounds very promising for Allen Iverson and Mac McClung. The names and their committed school appear to be very solid. The event is sponsored by Beats, New Era, and (no surprise) Reebok. Look for updates on location soon.

And Mac, keep practicing those dunks—you’re gonna break the internet one more time before putting on the blue and gray.

UPDATE (3/24): The Iverson Classic media relations has confirmed that the game and related events will be in Philadelphia.