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NCAA tourney star found 'shining moments' in McCook
DENTON, Texas — Somewhere near all the traffic of Masters golf week was an Augusta, Ga., high school star no one seemed to notice.
Mardrez McBride had averaged nearly 19 points per game as a Butler High School senior and better than 16 in three years overall.
Previously a young football player, the 6’2” guard now wanted to tae his new favorite sport to another level.
Yet no college basketball program was calling ...except one.
“McCook was the only one to recruit me,” McBride confessed during his phone interview from Denton, Texas, Wednesday.
He’d never ventured to McCook, Nebraska or even seen snow.
None of that mattered once McCook Community College coach Brandon Pritchett chatted with McBride on the phone.
“I had a NCAA Division I assistant tell me ‘you have to see this kid on film,’” Pritchett recalled. “Why had no one recruited him? There are just so many talented 6’2”, 6’3” guards out there.”
“But once I talked with Mardrez, I knew he had it,” the now MCC women’s head coach said. “He understood life beyond basketball. He had a good upbringing and family who raised him right. He had what you want in any college student-athlete.”
Plus McBride had no fear about moving to McCook, mainly because he loved the atmosphere of his teammates and town.
That’s why now — just weeks after playing two NCAA tournament games — Mardrez still knows he’ll never forget those first “shining moments” in McCook.
“I talk with them (former MCC teammates) actually quite a lot,” he said from Denton, Texas, on Wednesday where Mardrez helped North Texas University deliver its historic first NCAA tournament men’s win.
UNT knocked off the Big Ten Conference’s Purdue Boilermakers, 78-69, in overtime as McBride hit four of six three-pointers while scoring 16 points.
His last basket showed how Mardrez takes on life — hitting a running shot in the lane over taller Boilers which put his Mean Green ahead by two points.
“That’s a cool nickname,” McBride proclaimed about a reference to legendary North Texas football great “Mean” Joe Greene.
The Green next got a shot at Villanova Wildcats, who’ve won two NCAA championships during these past five years.
Villanova won this March Madness round of 32 game, 84-61, but it didn’t diminish this historic North Texas team.
In fact, every top star from McBride to Javion Hamlet are planning to return for more “Madness” next year.
“Absolutely,” Madrez responded about Mean Green aiming to make the Final Four.
“I said long ago, I was going to be a part of the big stage,” he added.
Confidence hasn’t eluded Mardrez but why should it?
As Pritchett emphasized, this former MCC Indian became an all-time favorite because “he did things the right way.”
“Mardrez was one I didn’t have to call. He’d stop in and just talk about anything,” Pritchett said. “He was all about the team and becoming a better person.”
“His grandad, the reverend Curt Davis, still texts or calls to say Happy New Year and things like that. They’re that kind of family.”
McBride played just 2018-19 at MCC mainly because of coaching changes during this time.
He transferred to USC Salkehatchie in South Carolina where McBride’s basketball talent really blossomed.
He shot 53% from three-point range, 51 percent inside the arc and five rebounds per game besides 14.4 points.
USC Salkehatchie won a region championship as one of the National Junior College Athletic Association’s highest-scoring teams.
About 15 NCAA Division I programs were soon recruiting Mardrez until he decided on the North Texas Mean Green.
His first game featured six of seven shooting from three-point range and 21 points.
Mardrez continued gaining experience against NCAA tourney teams like Arkansas and West Virginia along with Southeastern Conference member Mississippi State.
He was more than ready for the Conference USA season, and North Texas won four consecutive tourney games to earn its “Big Dance” spot.
“It’s been so much to see how Mardrez’s game has progressed since he was here,” Pritchett observed. “He shows with the right work ethic, you can do anything.”
Mardrez conquered other tests like unsual Texas snowstorms, where he spent four days inside “eating noodles” while the area recovered.
“Yeah, I saw a lot of snow in McCook,” he said. “It wasn’t that bad.”
Now he’ll go on and earn his business degree at UNT next spring.