PREVIEW: Mac McClung in Philly for Iverson Classic

This week has been incredibly good for Georgetown Hoyas fans of all ages, and we don’t expect the momentum to stop. Our friend and fearless leader, Casual, has been skipping lunches to cover the Monday commitments of 4-star recruit James Akinjo and NC State transfer and NBA-prospect Omer Yurtseven, as well as diligently supervising the illustrious AllenInXIs/NationWideNolan’s work on Coach Ewing’s spring recruiting.

Well, Georgetown-commit and internet legend Mac McClung is bound to make some more exciting news on April 19th at a Dunk Contest in Pennsylvania. A few short weeks ago we profiled the Allen Iverson Roundball Classic, looked at the team selections, and applauded their decision to make Mac McClung a top headliner of the event. The Daily Press out of Hampton/Newport News reported on the announcement and listed the college commitments of each player attending. Since then, it appears Anfernee Simmons has dropped out to prepare for the NBA draft, but the game has added new-found-foe Jahvon Quinerly (Villanova) and Luther Muhammad (Ohio State signee and four-star guard out of Hudson Catholic NJ) to the 2018 rosters.

The event will indeed be held in the Philadelphia-area and (through our great connections with Hoya-friends) your’s truly will attend the Thursday night festivities at Souderton Area High School in the suburbs of Philadelphia ... with press credentials. The schedule is set and tickets are available:

Day 1 (April 19th) includes a dunk contest, 3 point shootout, 1 on 1 games and more. Doors open at 5pm and game begins at 6pm

Come back for Day 3 (April 21st) for the Iverson Classic All American game. Doors open at 5pm and game begins at 6:30pm

However there is also a combine at Fidonce Player Development in Philadelphia on Thursday during the day that may yield some news (e.g., more than a 47-inch vertical leap?).

The 1-on-1 challenge sounds really interesting, both substantively and logistically, and of course, the Iverson Classic folks are getting ready for Mac in the dunk contest:

Again, the highlight of last year appeared to be the players meeting and talking with Iverson at the banquet, which this year will be in the King of Prussia/Valley Forge area on Friday night. Iverson has recently been visible in Philly during the Sixers’ home playoff games and, sitting court-side with Kevin Hart, may have po’ed Dwayne Wade into a Heat win.

One sneaky bit of news that came out of GUHoyas.com without much fanfare: our VA scoring record holder, and high-flying twittersphere superstar Mac McClung’s actual first name is... “Matthew”?:

Ewing has also signed 6-9 forward Grayson Carter (Dallas, Texas/Bishop Dunne), 6-6 forward Josh LeBlanc (Baton Rouge, La./Madison Prep Academy) and 6-2 guard Matthew “Mac” McClung (Gate City, Va./Gate City High School). The three players will join Akinjo on the 2018-19 Georgetown basketball team.

Wow. I couldn’t find any other mention of his government-acknowledged first name on the internet (H/T to JRSunrise). Also, I was a bit disappointed the GU press release couldn’t give Josh LeBlanc an extra inch to be a 6’7” forward, especially given his observed “7’1 wingspan.”

Lastly, we have to acknowledge yet another few achievements by McClung as he was named Boys Basketball Player of the Year by the Bristol Herald Courier. The full story of how “Mac Mania reached a national audience” is a lot of fun to read (not to mention quotes from Casual about the GU roster before these new signings/declarations that should be discarded). The Courier also got a couple nice quotes from Coach Ewing, who was in attendance for the VA championship game:

“I thought [Mac] played a great game,” Georgetown University boss Patrick Ewing said in a telephone interview earlier this week. “He scored the basketball, he attacked the rim in different ways, he shot his pull-up jumpers, assisted on some baskets. I just thought he played a tremendous game that was befitting of a champion.”

...

“He got on my radar on one of my first trips out,” Ewing said. “I don’t remember what tournament it was, but I was out on the recruiting trail and there were a couple of guys on that AAU team I was looking at and he just caught my eye; his athleticism, the chip on his shoulder. Every time I would watch that team, my eye was just naturally drawn to him. I thought he would be a great fit on my team.”

...

Will Mac Mania grip the Big East Conference? []

That’s to be seen, but Ewing – a Hall of Fame player – thinks so.

“I don’t care if he’s from a small school or a big school,” the coach said. “I just think he believes in himself so much and has such a strong work ethic; all of that is going to play a role in his success. He believes in himself and we believe in him.”

Like a boss! Also, Mac has been named to the 2017-18 ALL-USA Virginia Boys Basketball Team for 2017-18.

And Mac is scheduled to play in the Ballislife All-American game on May 5th in Cerritos, California.

Update: The shoes...