Unassuming McCadden making noise, drawing Division I interest at Rocky Mount Academy
By FOSTER LANDER
Sports Writer ROCKY MOUNT TELEGRAM
One night last spring, former Nash Central and Western Carolina guard Trey Sumler was back home in Nash County and at the gym, working on his game on an ordinary weeknight, when a face he hadn’t expected to see that day walked in.
Sumler trains with Myles Sharp, a long-time friend, and Sharp works with Rocky Mount Academy sophomore Elijah McCadden. Sumler – outside of Montrezl Harrell the last high-level Division I basketball player to come from the Twin Counties – had gotten to know the 6-foot-5 McCadden through their shared workouts.
And because the two were close, Sumler knew Rocky Mount Academy was hosting its end-of-season basketball banquet that same night. If McCadden had been there, he would have received his Team MVP, Coastal Independent Conference tournament MVP and All-CIC honors in person.
But here was McCadden, ambling onto a near-empty court to better his game.
“I was like, ‘what are you doing here?’” Sumler recalled on Thursday. “But he wasn’t really pressed about going to that. Because he knows he’s not the best of what he can be, and he doesn’t want to be seen too much or even want the credit.”
At times this season McCadden’s unselfishness – at least to the untrained eye or to those who don’t know the soft-spoken, rail-thin shooting guard – has been perplexing.
McCadden, who has attended Rocky Mount Academy since Kindergarten, is the best player on the floor night-in and night-out for the Eagles, who are undefeated in CIC play this season.
He can get to any spot on the floor with relative ease and could take 30 shots a night, but that’s not McCadden, who finished with nine assists in Rocky Mount Academy’s 72-61 win over a feisty Henderson Crossroads Christian team on Tuesday night.
“I know I could be more aggressive and look for my shot more often here, but that’s not always what’s going to help us win,” McCadden said. “Coach (Scott Dunn) gives us a lot of freedom in our offense to create, and I’d rather create easy shots for guys like Aubrey (Mitchell) and Brendan (Acker) or Kyle (Holland).”
“When I go to the Rocky Mount Academy games he wants to fit in with everybody, he doesn’t want to be the outcast or make himself bigger than the team,” Sumler added.
Of course, there are nights where McCadden takes more for himself – a 32-point effort on Jan. 11 against Faith Christian, or a 40-point scoring output in December – showing off a game that Sumler says is miles ahead of where he was at 16 years old.
“Even when he played for me on varsity as an eighth grader, I saw that his basketball IQ was above lots of high schoolers, and his maturity level was high, too,” Dunn said by phone on Friday. “Now that he’s been on this level for several years, he’s more confident in himself this season, controlling the game, knowing when to speed up, and is making good decisions out there on the court.”
Dunn said McCadden is only just now beginning to transition from a quiet, shy middle schooler to a fully-realized basketball player and person.
“Elijah has come out more in the last two years,” Dunn said. “You can imagine him coming in among all those older guys. He’s more vocal this year. This year I think he’s overcome some of that shyness on the floor but he’s more the type to let his actions speak most of all.”
And McCadden’s on-court efforts haven’t gone unnoticed. He earned an offer from Charlotte this summer after attending a camp there, and his play for the Carolina Raptors – for whom Northern Nash guard Darius Spragley also plays – has earned him early attention from Wake Forest, Old Dominion and Florida, among others.
He’s a rarity on the AAU circuit and with players at his level, who could end up at a high-major Division I school: McCadden likes to pass, and his court vision often puts him two or three steps ahead of the play.
“Even growing up, I was never one to take a ton of shots or try to score a bunch of points,” McCadden said. “I was always a better passer than scorer. My scoring ability is catching up, but it wasn’t how my game first really developed.”
That McCadden is so advanced for a sophomore manifests itself more clearly when McCadden is playing for Rocky Mount Academy than when he is with the Raptors and playing with and against bigger, stronger and more athletic kids from across the state and region.
That’s more McCadden’s speed, Sumler, who has seen McCadden’s AAU games, said – and he’s always been one to rise to the level of competition and to stand out as the pressure gets ratcheted up a notch or three.
“He’s a gym rat, and he’s the kind of player who likes a challenge,” Dunn explained. “When I challenge him – let’s say his defense is lacking – if I challenge him to be the best defensive player on the court, he’ll rise to that. For him, that’s just second nature.
By FOSTER LANDER
Sports Writer ROCKY MOUNT TELEGRAM
One night last spring, former Nash Central and Western Carolina guard Trey Sumler was back home in Nash County and at the gym, working on his game on an ordinary weeknight, when a face he hadn’t expected to see that day walked in.
Sumler trains with Myles Sharp, a long-time friend, and Sharp works with Rocky Mount Academy sophomore Elijah McCadden. Sumler – outside of Montrezl Harrell the last high-level Division I basketball player to come from the Twin Counties – had gotten to know the 6-foot-5 McCadden through their shared workouts.
And because the two were close, Sumler knew Rocky Mount Academy was hosting its end-of-season basketball banquet that same night. If McCadden had been there, he would have received his Team MVP, Coastal Independent Conference tournament MVP and All-CIC honors in person.
But here was McCadden, ambling onto a near-empty court to better his game.
“I was like, ‘what are you doing here?’” Sumler recalled on Thursday. “But he wasn’t really pressed about going to that. Because he knows he’s not the best of what he can be, and he doesn’t want to be seen too much or even want the credit.”
At times this season McCadden’s unselfishness – at least to the untrained eye or to those who don’t know the soft-spoken, rail-thin shooting guard – has been perplexing.
McCadden, who has attended Rocky Mount Academy since Kindergarten, is the best player on the floor night-in and night-out for the Eagles, who are undefeated in CIC play this season.
He can get to any spot on the floor with relative ease and could take 30 shots a night, but that’s not McCadden, who finished with nine assists in Rocky Mount Academy’s 72-61 win over a feisty Henderson Crossroads Christian team on Tuesday night.
“I know I could be more aggressive and look for my shot more often here, but that’s not always what’s going to help us win,” McCadden said. “Coach (Scott Dunn) gives us a lot of freedom in our offense to create, and I’d rather create easy shots for guys like Aubrey (Mitchell) and Brendan (Acker) or Kyle (Holland).”
“When I go to the Rocky Mount Academy games he wants to fit in with everybody, he doesn’t want to be the outcast or make himself bigger than the team,” Sumler added.
Of course, there are nights where McCadden takes more for himself – a 32-point effort on Jan. 11 against Faith Christian, or a 40-point scoring output in December – showing off a game that Sumler says is miles ahead of where he was at 16 years old.
“Even when he played for me on varsity as an eighth grader, I saw that his basketball IQ was above lots of high schoolers, and his maturity level was high, too,” Dunn said by phone on Friday. “Now that he’s been on this level for several years, he’s more confident in himself this season, controlling the game, knowing when to speed up, and is making good decisions out there on the court.”
Dunn said McCadden is only just now beginning to transition from a quiet, shy middle schooler to a fully-realized basketball player and person.
“Elijah has come out more in the last two years,” Dunn said. “You can imagine him coming in among all those older guys. He’s more vocal this year. This year I think he’s overcome some of that shyness on the floor but he’s more the type to let his actions speak most of all.”
And McCadden’s on-court efforts haven’t gone unnoticed. He earned an offer from Charlotte this summer after attending a camp there, and his play for the Carolina Raptors – for whom Northern Nash guard Darius Spragley also plays – has earned him early attention from Wake Forest, Old Dominion and Florida, among others.
He’s a rarity on the AAU circuit and with players at his level, who could end up at a high-major Division I school: McCadden likes to pass, and his court vision often puts him two or three steps ahead of the play.
“Even growing up, I was never one to take a ton of shots or try to score a bunch of points,” McCadden said. “I was always a better passer than scorer. My scoring ability is catching up, but it wasn’t how my game first really developed.”
That McCadden is so advanced for a sophomore manifests itself more clearly when McCadden is playing for Rocky Mount Academy than when he is with the Raptors and playing with and against bigger, stronger and more athletic kids from across the state and region.
That’s more McCadden’s speed, Sumler, who has seen McCadden’s AAU games, said – and he’s always been one to rise to the level of competition and to stand out as the pressure gets ratcheted up a notch or three.
“He’s a gym rat, and he’s the kind of player who likes a challenge,” Dunn explained. “When I challenge him – let’s say his defense is lacking – if I challenge him to be the best defensive player on the court, he’ll rise to that. For him, that’s just second nature.
