Kansas won the NCAA tourney in April and Golden State won the NBA Finals in June but there is still 1 more basketball champion to be crowned this summer. The Basketball Tournament (aka the TBT) kicks off on July 16th with 8 regions of 8 teams playing in Dayton/New Mexico/Omaha/Rucker Park/Syracuse/West Virginia/Wichita/Xavier. Each region will send 1 team to the quarterfinals, with the championship game taking place during the 1st weekend of August, and the winning team walking away with a $1 million prize. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel will spend the weeks ahead interviewing as many TBT participants as possible. We commence our coverage with Fletcher Magee, who will be playing for WoCo Showtime after finishing his college career at Wofford a few years ago as the best 3-PT shooter in D-1 history.
You were born/raised in Florida: what made you choose Wofford? They just recruited me the hardest. I went up there for my official visit and loved the culture.
In February of 2016 you scored a career-high 34 PTS/11-13 FG as your team broke a D-1 record by shooting 17-21 from behind the arc in a win over VMI: was it just 1 of those scenarios where every shot your team put up seemed to go in because everyone was “in the zone”? Yes: it was nuts! VMI was not great that year and after we saw a few shots go in early everyone was just raining threes the rest of the game.
You finished that year by scoring 13.8 PPG and being named SoCon ROY: how were you able to come in and contribute right from the start? There are so many good high school players in Orlando and I was also on 1 of the best AAU teams in the country. That prepared me for what to expect in college and have success from the get-go.
You also led the nation with 92.5 FT%: what is the key to making FTs? It is just about reps and hand-eye coordination and getting your form down. I always tried to put myself in game situations and make myself run if I missed 1. A lot of it is mental: just going up to the line and knowing that you will make it.
In February of 2017 you scored a season-high 36 PTS/13-13 FT in 56 minutes in a 4-PT 4-OT win over Samford: what are your memories of that game that never seemed to end?! It was an amazing game. I played terrible for the 1st 85% of that game and then made some shots late. It was definitely the craziest game that I have ever been a part of.
You were named 1st-team All-SoCon 3 straight years from 2017–2019 and conference POY in 2018/2019: what did it mean to you to receive such outstanding honors? It meant a lot. Whenever you get recognized like that it is a great feeling to be rewarded for all of the work that you put in. It was a humbling experience.
You graduated with an NCAA record 509 3PM and your career 43.5 3P% is best in school history: what is the secret to making shots from behind the arc, and do you think that anyone will ever break your record? There is not really a secret: just getting as many reps as you can and shooting the shots that you will be taking during games. You have to put in the work and believe in yourself. A lot of that record was due to Coach Mike Young’s offense and my teammates screening really well for me. I think that someone will eventually break my record but I do not know how long it will take. If someone stays 4 years and has a great career then I think they will break it.
In the 2019 NCAA tourney you scored a team-high 24 PTS in a win over Seton Hall: how big a deal was it to get the 1st tourney win in school history? That was huge and meant so much to me. Everyone always asks me about breaking the 3-PT record that night: it was great…but winning that game was the best feeling. We had great chemistry and had a huge winning streak going so it meant a lot to everyone on that team.
Your father Jerry played football at Vanderbilt: who is the best athlete in the family? I would say myself but my dad was also a great athlete. My younger brother Camp is going to Northwestern to play football so he might end up being the best of all of us.
Next month you will be playing for WoCo Showtime in the TBT: how is the team looking so far, and what will you do with your share of the $1 million prize money if you win it all? I think that we are looking good and have a lot of good pieces. If we get some good chemistry it will be big so we just need to show up ready to go and then perfect our schemes. I honestly do not know what I would do with the money: maybe save it up to buy a house or invest it in bitcoin!