Meet Jason Maclin: the best basketball player in
Galesburg
By John Ring
If you've heard the age-old term of "letting
the game come to me" in basketball, look no further than Jason Maclin. He
says it and what's more, he means it.
Jason Maclin is a 6'5" junior guard for Knox
College. He's their leading scorer
(21.1 points per game) and second leading rebounder (4.1) and he goes about his
business on the court in a non-flashy, quiet manner. Call him a quiet assassin.
He's also one of the best basketball players in
Galesburg.
Against Grinnell's style of play— wide open,
pressing, the game going a hundred miles an hour— you would have
naturally thought it would have been a natural for Maclin. He's athletic and a
slasher to the basket. But it wasn't so.
"I didn't expect to have a big game,"
said Maclin before the Prairie Fire played Beloit at home on Saturday
afternoon. "Our offense was pretty well set in the first half but it
didn't seem to work. Coach Heimann changed it at halftime and we attacked the
basket and that allowed us to get back in the game."
Knox's 77 points in that half allowed them to make
up a 17-point deficit and win. Maclin did have a big game— 38
points— it just came a little later in the contest.
"I'm kind of mellow and a relaxed
player," admitted the junior guard. "I let the game come to me. Now,
it took me a while to learn to do that. That really happened against Grinnell
but when I went out in the second half, I really wanted to be aggressive."
It worked out in that game and has worked out in
Jason Maclin's career at Knox College. HeÕs been an impact player. He was one
of just three sophomores in the Midwest Conference selected last year to the
All-Conference team as an Honorable Mention.
Jason is from Chicago. He grew up on the South Side
(103rd Street) and attended Kenwood Academy High School. He played basketball
and was a part of the Chicago Public League. As a senior, Maclin was an
All-Conference selection and a high school teacher referred him to Knox
College.
"It was an alumni connection that led me
here," said Jason. "he made the call to Coach Heimann and then he
took it from there. I was fortunate in that Kenwood was a high school that
really prepared you for college. It wasn't a magnet school but it was a good
one. It prepares you, teaches you how to study. I still go back there a lot."
"I had a fairly decent high school career and
playing in the Public League prepared me to be successful at Knox. I just wanted to play ball. Coach
Heimann told me I would get the opportunity to do that here and to be a student
as well. Not many colleges tell you that you're a student first and then a
basketball player. I liked that approach."
Maclin emerged his sophomore season and has built
on it. "I was asked to work
more on my defense this year and to rebound the ball better. They wanted me to
concentrate on my offense second and I think that has worked out. We started
off very slow as a team but we're communicating better. We're helping each
other out on the court."
It's been working off the court for Jason as well.
Maclin started last week as a student-aide for Cheryl Hinman, a teacher at
Galesburg High School. "My
first day was last Thursday and I was very comfortable. That lady loves what
she does and she's a good teacher. It's good to be around somebody like
that."
Jason is more than happy with his selection of Knox
College.
"It's been a big adjustment but it was an
adjustment for the best. It's helped me focus on my studies and being the best
student that I can be. My priority
is academics and if I was in a bigger city, there would be a lot more partying
going on." Maclin has played
in 62 career games, starting 45. HeÕs scored 980 points so far and is a safe
bet to finish in the Top 10 in scoring for a career at Knox.
"It's been a great experience so far and it's
even going to get better. I've been lucky in that I met a lot of great
people— alumni, teachers and other students. I have no regrets. We're
coming together as a team and our goal is to keep this season going, to be
playing basketball at the end of February.
02/02/06