Recruiting Report: Elijah McNamara (2018)

T.J. Rushing

November 9, 2016 @ 12:46 PM

After playing sparingly last season as a sophomore, Pickerington North's 6-foot-7 forward Elijah McNamara leveraged a strong offseason with Ohio Nova and picked up two early offers. First was a Division II offer from Notre Dame College, that was followed by his first Division I offer from Stony Brook which came last month. He mentioned to PHOH three other schools that are hot on his trail. “I've heard from William & Mary, Ashland, UT-Martin, and those are the bigger ones right now,” said McNamara. “Some of the schools have come to see me train, like William & Mary and Ashland.” He added: “I'm hoping I definitely get some more D1 offers, and I definitely just want to keep working and getting better.” A versatile forward with very decent size, McNamara explained his playing style. “I consider myself to be like a stretch-four who can play inside or on the wing,” he said. “I think my strengths are definitely my shooting and some of my post moves, and it's harder to guard me just because I'm a lefty.” He spent his 16U season playing with one of the state's best programs, Ohio Nova. “I would consider this spring and summer to my best yet,” said McNamara. “I was really working on defense. My freshman year I had really slow feet and I've been working on that. I know I can score, I just need to play defense now.” Now, as his junior season approaches, he is ready to take on a much larger role with the Panthers. “I played JV my freshman year, and I didn't get a lot of playing time last year, so I'll have to take big step-up this year into a leadership role,” said McNamara, who mentioned a personal goal is to average a double-double. “We don't have many bigs, I'm the tallest guy. This year I'll definitely have to be a leader for the team, and be a scorer and a rebounder.”