University of Maine redshirt-sophomore Ethan Mackey is coming off of a career week for the men’s basketball team. The 6-foot-7 forward scored a career high 24 points against the University at Albany last week before grabbing 10 rebounds and adding two blocks against the University of Massachusetts-Lowell five days later.
“It was a confidence booster having a career high in a close game against a good team,” Mackey said. “Not being able to get the win was disappointing and is always the goal, so it does take away from the milestone.”
Mackey started playing basketball in the third grade along with many other sports until he ultimately decided to devote his time strictly to the hardwood.
“As a kid I played baseball, soccer and football, but when I got to high school I focused only on basketball because I was best at it,” Mackey said.
Mackey continued to work at the sport he loved before ultimately joining head coach Ted Woodward at UMaine.
“My goal my whole life was to become a Division-I player and I did not think I was good enough coming out of high school, so I did a year at a prep school where our coach helped me do what it took to become a Division-I player,” Mackey said.
Mackey played at Voorheesville High School in New York. A two-time captain, Mackey scored more than 1,000 career points and averaged more than 20 points and 10 rebounds per game. He later attended Northfield-Mount Hermon Prep, ranked among the 10-best prep schools in the country, to sharpen his skills before attempting to make it at the Division-I level.
“My prep school coach, John Carroll, did a really good job at making me play to my strengths and eliminating things I was not good at,” Mackey said.
Mackey redshirted during his freshman year UMaine and played minimum time in the 2012-2013 season.
“Both prep school, my redshirt year, and last year when I didn’t play — it really helped me take a look at the game and see what was effective,” Mackey said. “I attribute my success to all my previous coaches, especially my prep school coach who made it very clear what I had to do to be successful.”
Mackey is shooting 64.1 percent on the season playing about 16 minutes a game. Mackey grabbed seven rebounds and missed only one shot from the field, going 11-12, to add to his career-high scoring output against the Great Danes.
Despite Mackey’s recent successes, the team continues to struggle. The Black Bears are 3-16 on the season and have now lost six straight following Sunday’s defeat to Stony Brook University.
“The season has been somewhat disappointing this year because of our record so far,” Mackey said. “This is because we are young and don’t have a lot of experience playing together. I think when we play to our strengths, we are a very good team.”
The Black Bears will need some more solid games from Mackey if they look to turn things around this season.
“I think we need to play better defense, rebound better, and move the ball well,” Mackey said. “When we move the ball we create lots of opportunities to score.”
Despite only netting 2 points on 1-2 shooting in the loss to UML, Mackey still found ways to contribute as evidenced by his work on the glass.
“My favorite part of the game is rebounding and going hard after the ball,” Mackey said.
Despite his uptick in play, he still sees ways to improve.
“I need to work on guarding post players better,” Mackey said. “I don’t do a good job playing against good post players one-on-one on the block. I also need to do a better job at helping on defense when someone is driving [to the basket].”
Mackey remains motivated and looks to be not only a more consistent contributor but to remain focused and remember how he got to where he is today.
“The thing that motivates me the most is knowing how hard I have worked my whole life to be where I am now. This makes me want to never give up on any play and play as hard as I can every possession.”
The Black Bears will need more of that kind of heart if they hope to get back in the win column against rival University of New Hampshire in Durham Jan. 29.