Date:
Wednesday, February 5, 2003
MEDFORD
– In the case of the McGlynn family of Medford and the winter sports they
played, the saying should go, "Like father, unlike
son."
Father
Dick McGlynn was a star hockey player at Catholic Memorial and then at Colgate
University before playing on the 1972 U.S. Olympic Hockey team that won a silver
medal in Sapporo, Japan. Son Mike McGlynn
(Medford, MA/Arlington Catholic) hasn't quite reached that status, but
he's putting the finishing touches on a career as one of the best shooters to
ever play for the Tufts University basketball program. In another interesting
family angle, Dick's brother and Mike's uncle, Michael, went into politics
and is currently the Mayor of Medford.
McGlynn
the basketball player has received many accolades since transferring out of
Brandeis University to play his final two collegiate seasons at Tufts.
Last season he was a Second Team All-NESCAC selection and led the Jumbos
in scoring with 18 points per game. He
also received a commemorative basketball to recognize his breaching of the
1,000-point milestone (Tufts and Brandeis combined). This season, on his last bucket during January 31's 83-66
upset win at home against Amherst, McGlynn pushed his career point total to
1,500.
He
currently sits at 1,549 points as Tufts enters a weekend homestand against
NESCAC rivals Bowdoin (Friday night) and Colby (Saturday afternoon).
McGlynn has averaged double figures in each of his four collegiate
seasons.
"Mike
is the best shooter I've ever had," said Bob Sheldon, Tufts Head Coach since
1988. "He's worked real hard at his game. When he first came here I thought
he was just a three-point shooter. Now he can go inside and can get the basket,
and he has a mid-range game. So he has a complete offensive game.
"Part of it is natural talent. He's got the shot, but what he's worked at is his ball handling and the knowledge of what is a good shot and what isn't a good shot. I think he's worked himself from being just a good shooter into being a scorer, and there's a difference.
"He's
great to coach, too. Even though he wants to score all the time, he wants to
win. He'd give up the points to win. That's important."
At
Brandeis, McGlynn started his career as a shooter, averaging 12.2 points and
starting 20 of 25 games played as a freshman.
He had a total of 304 points after his freshman campaign, leading his
team in three point shots attempted and made (50-128). Brandeis went 8-17.
His sophomore season got worse for the Judges as they finished 5-19, but it only got better for McGlynn. Starting 22 of 24 games, McGlynn once again led his team in three point shots attempted and made (83-190), and also shot a team-high 43.7 percent from downtown. McGlynn averaged a career-high 18.8 points per game that year, and was second on his team to Rashad Williams both during his sophomore and freshman years. McGlynn scored 450 points his sophomore season.
After
his sophomore season and 49 career games at Brandeis, McGlynn decided to
continue his academic and athletic pursuits not in Waltham, but down I-95 and
across Route 2 to Medford and Tufts University. Because of NCAA rules on
transfer students, McGlynn did not play during the 2000-01 season, but still
took classes at Tufts.
The
following season McGlynn was in a Jumbo uniform contributing the same positive
aspects of the game that he did for Brandeis.
McGlynn shot a career high 212 three-pointers in 2001-02, converting a
career high 48.1 percent. The
Jumbos fared slightly better then McGlynn's former team, finishing a game under
.500 at 12-13. He scored 451
points, including the 1,000th of his career at Trinity College on
January 25 of that year. At the
conclusion of his junior season McGlynn had 1,205 career points.
This season, the Jumbos are currently one game under .500 at 9-10, but once again McGlynn still shines. He is again averaging 18 ppg and has started every game. He has not missed a contest in his collegiate career, which consists of 93 games to date.
McGlynn
has scored 342 points through 19 games this season, pushing his career mark to
1,547. If all of his points were
scored while playing for Tufts, he would stand in fifth place on the all-time
scoring list, 42 points behind Troy Cooper (79-83).
The men's basketball team has four more regular season games left on its
schedule. Currently, McGlynn has
793 total points in 44 games while being a Jumbo.
Due to the split in his career, McGlynn is not on any Tufts all-time scoring lists, but he can boast some single season accomplishments. Currently McGlynn is sitting in seventh place on the all-time list for single-season free throw percentage, shooting 83.6 percent (61/73) his junior season. This season, McGlynn is on pace for a repeat performance, shooting 83.9 percent (52/62). He is shooting 80.6 percent for his career from the charity stripe. If his career ended with that mark, he would be third on Tufts' all-time list.
Also,
McGlynn is number one all-time at Tufts with his 102 three-pointers converted in
one season last yeare. The
three-point line was put into play for the 86-87 season, so many Tufts
basketball players never got a crack at the three-point records, nevertheless
McGlynn finds himself fourth on the all-time list of career three-pointers made
with 156 despite his limited time in Medford.
He is 38 three-pointers from the top spot.
What is even more impressive is that McGlynn has made 294 three-pointers
in his career. If he continues at
his current pace, McGlynn should make over 300 three-pointers in his career and
launch him onto the NCAA Division III top 20 list of all-time.
#