Syracuse signee Chris McCullough helped his new team get a win in his first game with the program.
The 6-foot-10 McCullough went for 12 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks as the IMG Academy Blue team beat Elev8, 66-47, Tuesday night at IMG.
“For 6-10, he’s athletic as [heck]. He did [well],” IMG coach John Mahoney, a former assistant under John Beilein at Michigan, told SNY.tv by phone. “We got him in Sunday and he had four practices [before the game]. He wasn’t perfect but some things he did well. Some things his natural ability took over.”
IMG also has 6-7 power forward Kerem Kanter, Enes’ younger brother, who went for 19 points and 11 boards. That allowed Mahoney to play McCullough on the perimeter somewhat. The team plays a four-out-one-in offense.
“The easiest was to get him into the system was to get him in that way,” said Mahoney, whose team is now 6-1.
McCullough was kicked out of Brewster (N.H.) Academy last month, and then enrolled this past weekend at IMG, news first reported by SNY.tv.
Ironically, McCullough and IMG will return to Brewster this weekend for a tournament. They will play Notre Dame Prep Friday and could meet Brewster on Saturday.
“I’m looking forward to seeing him, as will many others in our community. Chris is a wonderful young man who made a poor choice of violating a school rule and had to suffer the consequences,” Brewster coach Jason Smith told Syracuse.com by email. “I’ve missed him and it will be nice to catch up a bit with him this weekend. I hope if we do meet it will be as a result of both teams winning on Friday evening.”
Photo: Philip Stiles
