One of the most exciting members of this year’s freshmen class of college basketball stars is not a prototypical “blue chip” prospect. Mac McClung, a 19-year-old freshman at Georgetown University, found viral fame online thanks to his insane athleticism and propensity for throwing down monster dunks.

What’s worth noting about McClung is that he’s just 6’2” and weighs 175 pounds. Despite his relatively small stature, McClung has gained thousands of fans online thanks to his highlight-reel plays which have made the rounds on the Internet for the past year. His high school success even caught the attention of Drake, who reportedly DM’d McClung on Instagram to ask him for a jersey.

The 19-year-old’s road to the Georgetown Hoyas basketball team was far from the norm, as he played high school basketball at Gate City High School, in a town of fewer than 2,100 people nestled in the southwestern part of Virginia.

McClung does, however, come from a very athletic family as his father, Marcus, played linebacker for Virginia Tech and his sister Anna set the Virginia state high school record in soccer for goals scored. She later went on to play college soccer for the University of Tennessee.

From a young age, McClung’s father noticed his son’s tenacity and competitiveness as Mac was constantly in the gym working out and improving his vertical leap. This extra work paid huge dividends as Mac’s vertical leap has been measured at around 47 inches, which helps him throw down his monster dunks.

Once he got to Gate City High, McClung started to focus on the sport of basketball and began improving rapidly. He was able to dunk the ball for the first time in the summer after his first year, and in his junior year he dropped 64 points in a state tournament game.

In his senior year, Mac finished with 1,153 points and led his small school to a State Championship, thanks to his 47-point effort in the championship game. He finished his high school career with 2,801 points scored, which set a VHSL record.
Despite his prolific scoring in high school, McClung was only considered to be a three-star recruit. He initially committed to play basketball at Rutgers, but he ended up changing his mind and eventually settled on playing for Patrick Ewing at Georgetown.

Any doubts that people may have had about his game translating to the college level were quelled with the 19-year-old’s performance in the D.C. based Kenner League. In his second game at the pro-am showcase, he dropped 39 points and threw down some signature dunks against significantly higher-level competition to what he was used to in High School.

Moving forward, McClung still has a lot of work to do but he’s always dreamed of playing in the NBA. In his first six games at the college level, he’s averaged 6.2 points and 1.7 assists in 22.5 minutes per game. His best effort was a 12-point, 4 assist game against Illinois, where Georgetown won by eight points.

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It’s still early in his college career but if he continues to improve and demonstrates his killer ability to finish at the rim, McClung certainly has a shot at making the NBA one day – but for now, we should appreciate the ability to see him improve night after night under Patrick Ewing at Georgetown.

If you’re interested in seeing Mac play in person this season, SeatGeek has you covered with all your ticketing needs. Browse their complete listing of college basketball tickets here.

(Cropped image courtesy of Eric Wong via Flickr. | CC BY-ND 2.0)