Big Jack Mac is hungry for shot
JACK Macdonald has his eyes firmly set on making an NBL roster and believes playing for the Geelong Supercats is his pathway to get there.
Supercats men’s coach
Justin Schueller has attracted some top-level talent to the new-look team this year, his connections to NBL’s Melbourne United an obvious selling point for players.
Macdonald, who returned from the US college system last year after three years with the University Alaska Anchorage and a freshman season at Ohlone College, spent time training with Melbourne United through COVID and got a taste of the elite level in Australia.
“I trained with United and New Zealand (last year) so got a good glance at the level and thought I was very close,” Macdonald said.
“Justin coached me at under-20 nationals before I went to college, so we already had a bit of a relationship there.
“When I got back from college, I was training with him, he was in my ear about what I was doing NBL1 wise.
“Making the NBL is a big goal of mine — I look at playing for Justin as my best route to do that. Geelong provides that opportunity.”
Macdonald’s professional aspirations began while in high school, playing for Chris Anstey at Caulfield Grammar.
“Playing under him (Anstey) really showed me that whole professional side of things and really helped my game going into college,” Macdonald said.
“And then at college, I really loved it. It’s a program that’s really treated like a professional program — it’s just basketball, basketball, basketball.
“That made me think maybe I can do this for a living and take it further when I came back home.”
Averaging 13.6 points per game so far this NBL1 season, “Jack Mac” as he is known has been showing what he is capable of with Geelong, coming up with some clutch baskets in close games for the Supercats in recent weeks.
The team will host the Melbourne Tigers at the Geelong Arena this Saturday night, coming off a 1-1 double header weekend last week.
Coach Schueller said his team was looking to bounce back quickly after going down to Waverley on the road on Sunday.
“We’re coming off a loss — for us it’s really important that we respond the right way and that we fix the errors that we let ourselves down in,” Schueller said.
“We feel like we should be 5-0 and we’re going to respond the right way on Saturday.”