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in Oklahoma City," he recalls. "It was a great experience for us as a team and I got to face a lot of future NBA players and test myself against them and that experience definitely served as motivation for me to get back there." While McCollum was tearing it up on the court, he was just as busy off the court. For many players, the academic and extracurricu- lar side of the college experience tends to get overshadowed by the basketball. However, for McCollum, this would never be an issue. Beginning in the second semester of his freshman year, he started to write for The Brown and White, Lehigh's school newspaper. As a journalism major, with the goal of becoming a basketball analyst, McCollum began covering sports for the paper, ranging from cross country to soccer, and spent his spare time in the newsroom or in front of his computer. His favorite story was a feature piece on Lehigh wrestler Zach Rey, a national champion during his junior season. "I liked doing the story on Zach because it was a feature story," McCollum says. "I liked it because it was a personal story where you combined the differ- ent points of view that his teammates and coaches had, along with his own and you got to piece together the story that way." After finishing up his freshman year with a sportswriter title and a NCAA Tournament appearance under his belt, McCollum entered his sophomore season determined to lead the Moun- tain Hawks back to the Tournament. Individually, he excelled, averaging 21 points and nearly eight rebounds per game despite standing only 6-3, some- thing he attributes to his leaping ability and desire to have the ball in his hands. However, Lehigh lost in the Patriot League semi-finals on a controversial call and didn't make the NCAAs. McCollum described that feeling as "devastating," and it inspired him to work even harder in the offseason. During that summer after his sophomore year, McCollum was in the gym all the time. He was working with one goal in mind: win- ning the conference tournament. He worked on getting stronger, building his stamina and becoming more efficient. He was also invited to tryout for the United States World Univer- sity Games team, where for two weeks he would go against some of the best American talent in college basketball. McCollum didn't make the team, but was able to test himself and see where he stood amongst the best. "If you want to be the best, you have to take away from the best and learn from them," he says. Coming back to campus this year more determined than ever, McCollum and the Mountain Hawks went 23-7 with an 11-3 con- ference record. The Mountain Hawks made it to the championship to face No. 1-seeded Bucknell, on Bucknell's home court, for the chance to go to the NCAAS. "We knew the game would be tough and it would be a hostile environment for us, but winning that championship meant a lot to us, particularly our seniors," McCollum says. "The seniors worked so hard for this program and we wanted to win this for them and represent the Patriot League in the NCAA Tournament." chance to beat them based on that." The game was a nail-biter throughout, and whenever Duke looked like they would sur- vive the scare, McCollum stepped up, show- ing the killer instinct that first made him so attractive to Reed. Whether it was nailing a big three or finding a cutting Knutson for a dunk, McCollum was simply the best player on the floor, a fact Duke coach Mike Krzyze- wski later acknowledged. McCollum finished with 30 points, six assists and six rebounds. Ultimately, the man who was overlooked by the Blue Devils helped end their season. "It was a great moment for our team, for Lehigh, for everybody involved with the program," McCollum says, still clearly trying to make sense of everything that happened. "And it was an honor for Coach K to rec- ognize that I performed at a high level but also most importantly that we as a team performed at a high level. He's one of the best ever so hearing his com- ments definitely mean a lot to me." Their 75-70 victory over Duke set off pandemonium in Bethlehem. Students celebrated by burning Duke jerseys and chanting "We Beat Duke" across campus. Even though Lehigh's sea- son ended in their next game against Xavier, their accomplishments will go down in history. With such a successful season behind him, McCollum flirted with leaving for the NBA, but the lure of getting a col- lege degree, another go around with his teammates, and finishing his col- lege experience was just too much for him to pass up. And while many think that Reed may now be able to recruit "bigger" or "better" players, the ones big schools go after, his recruiting pitch is still the same. Well… McCollum certainly did his part. In the championship game, he scored 29 points to go along with five assists and three steals to will his team into the tournament, where they would be a No. 15 seed matched up against Duke. This was a typical David vs. Goliath NCAA story: Duke with their NBA tal- ent, national championships and legendary coach; Lehigh with their undersized players, zero NCAA wins, and coach known more for his doctorate degree than his basketball pedi- gree. Nobody gave Lehigh much of a chance. But this was the matchup Lehigh wanted. "Duke wasn't playing as well toward the end of the season as they had been and we were playing our best basketball," says Gabe Knutson, Lehigh's starting forward. "Everything was really coming together for us as a team so we really thought we had a "We have had a formula for success that we want to continue to use going forward," Reed says. "That formula includes identifying indi- viduals who really want to capitalize on the great degree Lehigh can provide while also being part of a successful basketball program with the chance to win championships, and CJ shows that you can not only enjoy the ex- perience from a team level but an individual one as well." The formula has Reed and the Mountain Hawks in a position to win their third con- ference championship in four years next sea- son. It is also the formula that has McCollum on the verge of the NBA, but not before he gets one more year with the small school on a hill that took a chance on him five years ago when no one else would. 27 BRENT HUGO/LEHIGH MEDIA RELATIONS