Mac McClung of Georgetown Basketball has announced via social media that he would declare for the NBA Draft without forfeiting his college eligibility.
The 6′ 2″ McClung averaged 15.7 points a game but only appeared in 21 games because of a foot injury. In his two years at Georgetown, McClung has never shot over 40% from the floor nor does he defend particularly well. With that being said, one can understand why McClung declared.
He is the last player left from head coach Patrick Ewing’s first recruiting class. This was a class that brought in three 4-stars along with McClung but all have found new homes. James Akinjo transferred to Arizona. Josh LeBlanc, left the program after an off-court incident and signed with LSU. After limited playing time in his freshman year, Grayson Carter head to UT-Arlington.
If McClung stays in the draft, Georgetown will be faced with replacing five players on top of Akinjo, LeBlanc, Myron Gardner, and Galen Alexander. Gardner and Alexander were also involved in the off-court troubles of LeBlanc.
There are plenty of “next level” questions when it comes to McClung being NBA ready.
Can he play point guard?
He’s never been a full-time point guard at Georgetown. His 6′ 2″ frame would make it hard for NBA teams to constantly play him off the ball on offense. At this point in his career, he’s not a dominant ball-handler who could beat NBA length off the dribble.
Shooting Percentage
As stated above, McClung has yet to shoot 40% on the college level. Part of that is his shot selection. Ewing has given McClung a lot of freedom to learn as he goes so we’ve seen a lot of questionable shot selection out of the sophomore guard.
But, that is the one thing that could improve if and when he gets to the NBA. There’s been plenty of college players who have learned how to shoot the ball better along with shooting better shots.
Poor Defender
It’s can’t be sugar-coated, McClung has trouble defending. This is particularly troublesome when you can consider that McClung has been worse defending his man off the ball than he has on the ball. That just doesn’t translate well to the NBA level especially when you consider that McClung isn’t particularly long.
When you consider all that is at play, it’s reasonable to expect McClung to return to The Hilltop next season.