By ADAM ZAGORIA
NEW YORK — Mac Etienne, the 6-foot-11 junior big man from Suffield Academy (CT) and the PSA Cardinals, bears a slight facial resemblance to Joakim Noah.
And on Sunday morning at the PSA Cardinals Showcase, Etienne showed out in Noah’s hometown, putting up 20 points, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks in a 97-74 loss to Blair Academy (N.J.) at Mount Saint Michael Academy in The Bronx.
“I feel like I played good. I tried to play as hard as I could, run the floor and also create for my teammates,” Etienne said after the game. “That was something I’ve really been working on this season, and I feel I did a good job executing that. Just playing hard and do what I could do to try to help my team win.”
UConn head man Dan Hurley and assistant Kimani Young, Illinois coaches Brad Underwood and Orlando Antigua, UCLA’s Darren Savino, Marquette’s Dwayne Killings and Miami’s Chris Caputo were among those on hand for Etienne, a native of Middletown, N.Y.
Micawber Etienne (@Micawber_e)
— The Hustle (@TheHoopHustle) December 8, 2019
6’11” Big@Suffield_Hoops/@PSACardinals 2021
Ever-improving big fella’s motor & passion are translating into consistent big time numbers. For an unselfish dude like Mac, it also = TEAM SUCCESS!
8 Pts/17 Reb/7 Blk in the W…. pic.twitter.com/Bsq4qQcHIA
He broke down several of his top schools:
Marquette: “They talk to me every day, me and Coach Killings we have a good relationship. They’re losing the [junior] big man Theo [John] so I feel like I can go in and have the same role as him. Make sure I can score, block shots, rebound and play my game.”
Providence: “Providence’s message is they really need a big man, so they’re big man Nate is leaving. He’s a [junior] this year, so they’re really going to need one next year. They really want me to come and I have an opportunity to play a lot of minutes an dmake a big impact in their program.”
UConn: “They have a good recruiting class. Me and Javonte [Brown-Ferguson], we’re cool. I talk to him all the time. They have a good wing coming in with Andre [Jackson] so I feel like it’s going to be a good program, especially coming into the Big East next year.”
Etienne said he’s also been hearing from Louisville, Miami and UCLA.
Louisville: “I talked to Louisville a couple days ago. They just want to get to know me more, come watch my games and see how I fit into their system.”
Miami: “They saw me play for the first time last week and they want to build a relationship and see how I play.”
UCLA: “[Savino] actually just texted me a minute ago. he said I played really well today. They just came from Cincinnati so it’s a whole new coaching staff. They’re really a gritty team and they like gritty players and players who give effort and I feel like that’s something that I do.”
Etienne has no immediate visits planned.
“I’m probably not going to take any visits during the basketball season,” he said. “I really want to focus on the basketball season and I want to try to win the [NEPSAC] chip.”
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