‘The sky’s the limit.’ LexCath basketball gets boost from UK football connection.
Lexington Catholic boys’ basketball coach Brandon Salsman got a call into his classroom from the front office a while back saying that a family was there to visit the school and the prospective student played basketball. Could they meet with him?
Not an unusual occurrence — until Salsman saw the visitors.
There, standing before him was John McCrear, a lanky 6-foot-8 sophomore, and his great uncle, Vince Marrow, the University of Kentucky’s associate head football coach and recruiting coordinator.
“He’s an unbelievable athlete,” Salsman said of McCrear, who enrolled at LexCath last month and got his clearance to join the varsity team on Monday. “I’ve been at Catholic for 30 years, and I don’t think I’ve seen his match of athleticism. He’s got unbelievable length and an unbelievable basketball IQ. He picks up things very quickly.”
Needless to say, it was a good day to be Brandon Salsman.
And better days might lie ahead as the No. 3 Knights incorporate the 16-year-old transfer from Ypsilanti, Mich., into a lineup that already has Ben Johnson, a leading candidate for this year’s Mr. Basketball award.
Tuesday night, McCrear came off the bench in his varsity debut, scoring four points with five rebounds, three blocks and two steals over 15 minutes of action in a 63-45 win at Lincoln County.
“Personally, I think we’re the best team in the state,” Johnson said after the game. The Bellarmine commit led all scorers with 31 points and got his 2,000th career point with the Knights in the process. “There’s a couple of really good other teams out there, but with John coming in, and the team we already have, we’re going to keep getting better.”
Marrow connection
McCrear, the grandson of Marrow’s brother, played part of last season for Ypsi Prep Academy, the same school that’s home to Emoni Bates, the class of 2022’s No. 1 overall player and a Michigan State commit.
McCrear made a splash upon getting called up from the junior varsity squad last season. He scored nine points and got eight rebounds and 10 blocks in a district semifinal win.
But McCrear said Ypsi wasn’t the right fit for him, and his uncle said the situation really wasn’t about basketball. The family had discussed McCrear moving in with Marrow last year when COVID-19 hit.
“It’s more like I’m doing it for my family,” Marrow said. “Me and John are close … for the long run, it’s just being a father figure and offering a better opportunity for him as he goes on in life in high school and college … My niece, his mom, felt the same way. Basketball takes care of itself. It’s more the other stuff.”
Choosing LexCath
Marrow’s youngest child, Yanna, now a softball freshman at the University of Pittsburgh, attended both LexCath and Paul Laurence Dunbar during her high school career.
And McCrear visited other schools as the family looked for a good fit for him in Lexington. An endorsement from former UK basketball assistant Kenny Payne, whose son Zan played for Salsman at LexCath, might have tipped the scales.
“When I talked to Kenny, who I respect, he said it was a great school,” Marrow said.
McCrear has liked it thus far.
“Everybody welcomed me with open arms,” McCrear said. “It’s a really fun experience.”
The feeling has been mutual.
“The best part about him. I’ll tell you, truthfully, is he’s a great kid,” Salsman said. “He is so easy to like, it’s been marvelous.”
The Knights’ success this season (10-0) provides McCrear with a chance to develop chemistry with the team and his own game. And for LexCath, adding a 6-8 center with a 7-2 wingspan couldn’t hurt much.
“We’re a great team now, but we’re even better with him,” Salsman said. “He gets to come in and do the things he does and not have to worry about scoring a whole bunch of points. As long as he’ll play defense and rebound and score when he has to, he fits his role perfectly. And he did it tonight, and he’s going to get better and better with more and more practice and games, so the sky’s the limit, I think.”
McCrear’s game
McCrear came off the bench for the first time about midway through the first quarter Tuesday night. Salsman’s only directive to him was “play hard.”
McCrear got on the end of a couple of passes for easy buckets in the first half and altered a few shots and blocked some others. Together with 6-11 sophomore Reece Potter in the post, the Knights figure to make things difficult for opponents trying to drive into the lane. Potter had four blocks against Lincoln.
“I really want to bring rim protection, rebounds and with me being one of the bigger guys on the team, I want to block shots and run the floor. That’s really it,” McCrear said.
LexCath also has some size with 6-5 junior Jack Gohmann and 6-5 sophomore Hudson Sparks.
McCrear and Potter subbed for each other some, but also got a few minutes together as a twin towers lineup.
“They’re gonna be able to play together quite a bit,” Salsman said. “It’s just getting them acclimated in different spots and different things. John’s got a little ball skill, so that’ll help out some, but we just got to get in the gym and keep working.”
Having that height makes defense a lot easier, Johnson said.
“It’s awesome. … You don’t really have to stay in front of anybody — just let them go and (say), ‘Good luck at the rim,’” Johnson said, smiling.
As tall as he is, Marrow believes McCrear might still be growing.
“He just turned 16. They say he could be 6-11. He sleeps a lot,” Marrow said with a chuckle, “so I will not be surprised if he grows some more.”
McCrear’s size and athleticism has made Marrow a popular phone call among AAU coaches and college recruiters, a twist for UK’s recruiting coordinator.
“I’ve got a lot of AAU coaches calling every day. It’s kind of funny, like how I bother people when I’m recruiting and now I’m going through that with him,” Marrow said. “It’s kind of mind boggling a little bit.”
Highlights
