Hoop Dreams

It dates back to an alumni basketball game at Marymount University in Arlington where Mac’s dad Farley played from 1991-1995. As the old timers were socializing and warming up before they took the court, Farley reached down and handed 3-year-old Mac a basketball. His mom Jen caught the moment on film.

 

“Every time you see that picture,” Farley said, “you almost feel there was something destined about it.”

 

How so? Well, the toddler in the picture has become a basketball player par excellence, but not without earning his success through countless hours of toil and sweat.

 

“As a parent, you preach that if you work hard, good things happen,” said Farley, who’s a Collegiate Middle School science teacher and assistant varsity basketball coach. “It feels really good seeing Mac turn himself into the player and athlete he wants to be.”

 

As far back as Mac can remember, he tagged along when his dad headed to the gym after hours and on weekends to play hoops.

 

He competed in local recreation leagues and the Team Richmond AAU organization and worked his way step-by-step through the Collegiate program.

 

“The first year, I tried out as a 7^th grader for the top 8^th grade team,” Mac said. “Didn’t make it. Ended up playing on the top 7^th grade team and really enjoyed it. My 8^th grade year, I tried out for the JV. Ended up playing on the top 8^th grade team. Had a great experience.”

 

During that second season, he scored 20 points in a game at Fork Union. It was a glimpse into the future. Then as a freshman, he averaged 17 points per game on the JV.

 

“That was a really eye-opening year, another great experience,” he said. “I started to think, I might be able to do this in college.”

 

First, though, there was the business of playing varsity, where the pace of the game, the skill level, size, and athleticism of the players, and the expectations intensified.

 

His sophomore season provided another learning experience but one for which he was prepared. On a senior-dominated squad which finished 15-10 despite season-ending injuries to two starters, he delivered quality minutes, worked his way into the starting lineup, and averaged 9.0 points per game.

 

His junior year, he became the player he had trained to be his entire life. At season’s end, he was voted first-team All-Prep League and All-Prep League Tournament and second-team Richmond Times-Dispatch All-Metro.

 

A 6-2, 180-pound guard, he led the Prep League in scoring (21.9 points per game) and averaged 6.6 rebounds per game. He surpassed 30 points six times including a career-high 36 against Armstrong in the Times-Dispatch Invitational Tournament and 33 against Trinity Episcopal when the Titans were ranked second in the T-D Top 10.

 

He averaged four 3-pointers per game and drained eight 3-balls against Woodberry Forest. He connected on 47 percent of his shots from the field and 33 percent from behind the arc. With 737 career points, he’s well within striking distance of the 1,000-point mark.

 

Though it’s his long-range capability that lights up the crowd, Mac is much more than just a shooter.

 

“In an era of basketball when you have eurosteps and everybody can dunk the ball and do 360’s, Mac plays triple threat,” said Del Harris, Collegiate’s head coach and the executive director of the Team Richmond organization. “Every time he catches the ball, he’s in position to dribble, shoot, and pass. That’s why he’s so good. He’s plays old school Larry Bird-ish basketball.”

 

Mac comes by his affinity for the sport honestly. His grandfather Denison Macdonald walked on to the first Virginia Commonwealth University team in 1968. His dad, a 6-8 center, starred at Richmond’s Marymount High School (class of ’91) before heading to Marymount University. There was never pressure to follow in the family footsteps, however.

 

“Mac has always steered the ship,” Farley said. “He’s always had responsibility for the direction he wanted to go. He’s done a good job understanding that I’m an ally.

 

“Basketball was never central in my life. I played it. I was moderately adequate. I liked the team aspect of it. I never had much ego in the sport.”

 

With Mac, it has been central.

 

“It started off just shooting,” he said. “All I wanted to do was shoot 3’s. Then I realized I wanted to do more in order to affect a team and be a college player. That’s when I started working on my athleticism, so I started conditioning, getting in the weight room, doing agility workouts. That’s mainly my focus right now. Along with the agility, conditioning, and defensive aspect of the game is ball handling.”

 

That said, he realizes full well that a key to the Cougars’ success is his offensive production.

 

“The important thing is getting in the gym,” he said. “The quantity of shots I’ve taken in the past two years is ridiculous, but no matter how much you shoot, it always comes back to confidence. Most of the time, when I believe the shot will go in, it does. When I’m just hoping it’ll go in, it usually doesn’t.”

 

Mac’s offensive success does not come easily in game situations, of course. Every time the Cougars take the court, there’s a defender assigned to make his 32 minutes of clock time as miserable as they can.

 

“That was definitely the hardest part about this year,” he said. “The Steward game (in early December) was the first time I’d been face- guarded. I didn’t handle it well: seven points. I tried to get the ball and create a shot when I had to take things slower and play my game no matter how the defense was guarding me. I really have to stay within myself and be confident in myself and play my game.”

 

Lesson learned, of course.

 

“It all comes back to preparation,” he said. “When I work out, I always go game speed dribbling and being ready to shoot whenever I can because I know that little opening is when I have to get my jump shot off. And dwelling on mistakes doesn’t help. It only makes me play worse. It’s not productive.”

 

As a captain (with senior Ben Melvin), he also had to assume a leadership role on a team with seven sophomores on its 13-player roster.

 

“Those young guys are some of my closest friends,” Mac said. “I really respect them. In the off season, we worked out together all the time. We’d be in the gym getting extra shots, extra lifts. I loved my team this year.”

 

Mac’s athletic accomplishments, work ethic, and desire have, not surprisingly, attracted the attention of college coaches. He has one firm offer from Mt. St. Mary’s. A dozen other Division I and numerous Division III institutions have expressed legitimate interest.

 

While he might have limited contact with teammates (and recruiters) during this coronavirus-imposed hiatus, Mac has maintained close contact with the game of basketball – two to three hours a day, actually – as he prepares for the AAU circuit, his senior season, and a college career.

 

He’s doing strength and conditioning drills at home and cardio training at nearby Forest Hill Park. He works on his dribbling and ball handling skills on the street and sidewalks around his house and his form by visualizing a target on the side of a wall and shooting as if the hoop were actually there.

 

Though it’s not an ideal situation, he makes do, knowing that one day he’ll be back in his athletic element.

 

“Being on a basketball court, any time, is exciting,” he said. “Just being in the gym by myself, being in the gym with one or two other people, or being in the gym with hundreds…it’s hard to describe. It’s just a feeling I have.”

   ~Weldon Bradshaw