Longtime friends give St. Catherine’s the state’s best guard combination
Racine St. Catherine's teammates Kamari McGee, left, and Tyrese Hunter signed to play basketball at Green Bay and Iowa State.
Nick Bennett knows he’s fortunate to have a formidable backcourt tandem featuring seniors Tyrese Hunter and Kamari McGee.
What the Racine St. Catherine’s head coach appreciates even more is that no ego comes along with being the state’s best guard duo the minute Hunter and McGee step into the gym.
What you see is what you get. “They take hard coaching to heart,” Bennett said. “They don’t take it the hard way. I’ve seen it where you tell a kid who’s really talented that he’s not taking good shots or he’s not giving enough effort on defense, and he takes it as an affront to who he is. That’s not who those guys are. They’re the ones telling us as coaches to make them better.”
That mixture of drive and ability has paid dividends for Hunter and McGee, as well as St. Catherine’s.
Both are NCAA Division-I recruits, Hunter a top-100 player nationally headed to Iowa State and McGee signed to attend UW-Green Bay, and the Angels enter the WIAA Division 3 state tournament as the No. 1 seed with just one loss on their ledger in the past two calendar years.
Longtime friends and teammates
In eighth grade, Hunter and McGee were part of a trip out west. While in San Diego, they made a stop on a college campus and, eyes wide open, immediately decided what their dream was: to play Division-I basketball on a large campus.
“We knew right then and there how much we wanted to go to a school like that and play basketball,” McGee said.
Hunter and McGee had already been best friends since elementary school, when they played on the same Racine youth basketball team. It was McGee that started playing first, and his fascination with the game motivated Hunter to join the team.
“People say (we’re) friends, best friends, but I look at him as a brother,” Hunter said. “Even before we started basketball, I was coming to his house and kicking it.
“I’ve always been looking up to him. The friendship we have off the court is special, keeping me in the right place and on the right track.”
Both played on varsity at St. Catherine’s as freshmen, with McGee coming off the bench and Hunter starting every game but the first of the season.
“I didn’t start him his first game and he had 18 points off the bench,” Bennett said. “Next game, the kid he’s coming off the bench behind forgot his jersey and Tyrese had to start. He hasn’t come off the bench since. I always say I’m the only knucklehead ever who didn’t start Tyrese Hunter.”
Hunter became one of the country’s more sought-after prospects by the end of his sophomore year and it became apparent that McGee would also become a D-I scholarship player by the time he was a junior.
When they both signed their national letters of intent to their respective colleges in November, it was the realization of a plan hatched nearly four years prior.
“The way we push each other as much as we do plays a big part in our success,” McGee said. “It could be a simple shooting drill that we’ll turn into a competition. We both just want to always be getting better.”
Angels guard Kamari McGee is second on the team with 16.9 points per game while shooting 58%.
Versatile scoring threats
Hunter averages 19.9 points per game on 54% shooting from the field while McGee is second on the team with 16.9 ppg while shooting 58%.
On their own, each has such a complete offensive skill set that he could easily be among the state’s leading scorers.
Filling up the scoring column just isn’t the focus.
“Honestly, it’s not as hard to spread the scoring around as people think,” McGee said. “We like to score, but we run motion so whoever is open takes the shot. If one of us gets hot, feed the hot hand.”
Both Hunter and McGee are natural point guards and average 4.6 assists this season. Their willingness as passers and the Angels’ scoring depth is a significant reason why the team averages 1.234 points per possession this year.
“Those kids have made it easy,” Bennett said. “They’re both point guards, so it’s about playing them off the ball in a way that works. Both are effective without the ball in their hands.”
Hunter excelling on the offensive end is nothing new; he scored 21.3 ppg as a junior and could go over 1,600 points for his career on Friday. The development of
McGee to turn into a well-rounded player who can light up the scoreboard, though, has been crucial for St. Cat’s holding the top spot in the Division 3 rankings all year.
McGee has bumped his scoring up from 11.2 ppg as a junior and is shooting 40.7% from three while converting at a 61.3% clip on two-pointers.
“I feel like my efficiency has gotten pretty good,” McGee said. “I don’t really take bad shots. I take shots that I know I work on and make sure to get the best look possible.”
Locking down
It should come as no surprise that a team coached by a Bennett is defensively astute.
The nephew of former Wisconsin head coach Dick Bennett and cousin of current Virginia head coach Tony Bennett, Nick Bennett has instilled into his team the idea that playing defense is mandatory.
It also doesn’t hurt when the starting backcourt is two of the better perimeter defenders in the state. Hunter averages 2.8 steals per game and McGee is just behind him at 2.5. Forward Jameer Barker also averages more than two steals per game.
“Buying into what (Bennett) was coaching made us work harder at it,” McGee said. “Instead of us wanting to be good on that end, it’s a need.”
The result has been that St. Catherine’s is arguably the strongest defensive team in the state, allowing just .595 points per possession during the regular season.
“We’re all energetic and that plays a part in our defense,” Hunter said. “Having a passion for defense and having fun and the mindset of don’t let anyone score points on us, that’s what we do.”
If stopping an attack led by Hunter and McGee wasn’t a tough enough ask, try scoring on them.
That’s a puzzle the rest of the Division 3 state field will have to solve come Friday.
Racine St. Catherine’s at a glance
Head coach: Nick Bennett, fifth season.
Record: 22-1, 15-1 conference, first. Key players: Tyrese Hunter, 6-1, sr., G, 19.9 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 4.6 apg, 2.8 spg; Kamari McGee, 6-0, sr., G, 16.9 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 4.6 apg, 2.5 spg; Jameer Barker, 6-2, sr., G, 13.8 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 2.1 spg; Calvin Hunter, 5-10, sr., G, 9.2 ppg; Marcel Tyler, 6-5, sr., C, 4.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg; Victavian Thomas, 5-7, sr., G, 3.8 ppg; Domonic Pitts, 6-4, soph., F, 3.5 ppg, 5.6 rpg.