Do any of you have haters out there?? Trust me, I hear you… I know exactly what you’re saying, so do I; WE ALL DO!! However, as many haters and critics we may have in our lives, you have to love them! Without them, we may not be where we currently are; they push us to become better! From being told that he was “too small” and “wasn’t ready for the physical nature of the game” on the big Division I stage, Lehigh College’s basketball prodigy, C.J. McCollum, has done, as rap artist Drake would say, pointed all the skeptics out and made them into believers!
The majority of you probably haven’t heard of Lehigh College… However, you might have heard of them if you followed the NCAA March Madness Tournament this past year. Lehigh was the #16 seed that played #1 ranked Kansas in the first round. Unfortunately, Lehigh was unable to pull out the victory, but C.J. was able to say that the ended season had been really good to him! After having one of the best seasons any freshman in the country could ever wish for, C.J. realizes that choosing Lehigh College was the perfect decision!
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The same guard that was told he was “too small” and “not ready for the physical nature of the game”, proved everyone wrong and had an outstanding year receiving: Patriot League Player of the year, Patriot League Freshman of the year, Freshman All-American, Honorable Mention All-American, Rivals.com Freshman All-America Second Team, not to even mention the other awards and multiple school records that were broken along the way as well. So you get the point, with literally collecting almost every award you could think of, C.J.’s hard work on and off the court has truly paid off for him.
After being offered to attend LeBron’s Skills Academy in San Diego this summer, C.J. actually had to turn down the offer due to him being selected by Athletes in Action which is a Christian Organization; to go to China for 2 weeks with a group of American basketball players to play against China’s National team, workout, and also hold bible studies; that shows his character!
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Although it may seem like he has everything going on for him when it comes to basketball, (which he does), the craziest thing that I notice about C.J. isn’t his basketball ability; it’s the simple fact of how humble he really is! Anyone could achieve all the success that he’s accomplished within 1 year and easily decide to get cocky and arrogant. Right? Along with success there comes a lot of exposure and opportunity that the average person cannot handle. However with C.J., that’s not the case… It’s nothing different to him! He still is striving to be the best basketball player and person he can be and still trying to reach more of his goals as he continues the journey. With the ultimate goal of going to the NBA, C.J. also said he could definitely see himself becoming a sports broadcaster somewhere down the road.
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Here’s something else you can’t forget! For this upcoming 2010-2011 season, C.J. has already been named to the Rivals.com Sophomore All-America First Team as well as the Non-Conference BCS Players to Watch List by Spor
