Prospect Update: Cliff McCray (2019)
There’s times in the recruiting game where guys need to accept an offer before someone else from the same class and the same position do — there’s only so many scholarships to hand out.
For Sioux City West 6-foot-2 point guard Cliff McCray, that time was last week, when he committed to play for D2 program Southwest Minnesota State.
McCray took an unofficial visit to the school in late June, “When I was there, it just felt right. It felt like that was the place I needed to be,” he said. And he had an official visit scheduled for Sept. 27. But with other guys starting to commit, McCray was put in a situation where he felt he needed to made a decision.
He chose the Mustangs over Nebraska D2 Wayne State, which was his only other offer. North Dakota State, Nebraska-Omaha and South Dakota were D1s that were recruiting him as well.
“I didn’t mind (committing early). It was kind of good I got put in that situation, because that’s where I wanted to go. They’ve always treated me good, and made me feel like that’d be the place where I want to go,” said McCray.
“I was going to wait until just before school basketball started, to see if any D1 schools wanted to offer me. But then it came to a point where I didn’t want to miss out on this chance.”
Another big reason McCray decided to commit to the D2 program was that he’s got a decent chance to get some playing time as a freshman.
“I wanted to make an impact right away,” said McCray. “And at Southwest, from what the coaches said, I’ll be able to make a very big impact right away.”
McCray is ranked by Prep Hoops Iowa as a top-20 player in the 2019 class. He averaged 14.7 points, 5.7 assists, 3.3 steals and 6.5 rebounds per game last season as a junior.
Cliff McCray is ranked by Prep Hoops as a top 20 prospect in his class. To see the full ranking of Iowa’s 2019 class, click here.