The Southern Highland Reader

CULLOWHEE-What connects Cullowhee and Schnectady? In our case in point, Fran McCaffery, who used to coach at UNC-Greensboro, and now heads up the Siena program does.

Siena is mixing it up at the Old Spice Classic tournament at Disney World this week, and McCaffery’s emphasizing to his team that NBA scouts will be on hand in droves (Georgetown and Tennessee are also in the tourney).

In an interview with Mike MacAdam of the Schnectady Daily Gazette, McCaffery used Kevin Martin as an example. Writes MacAdam:

Another player McCaffery points to to illustrate how NBA scouts shouldn’t prejudge the ability of mid-major and small-conference players is the Kings’ Kevin Martin.

McCaffery coached against the Zanesville, Ohio, native when Martin played for Western Carolina in the Southern Conference, and McCaffery was the UNC-Greensboro head coach.

McCaffery was contacted by a Sacramento sportswriter this summer for an opinion on how Thompson would fare in the NBA, and McCaffery compared Thompson’s situation to that of the lightning-quick but smallish Martin.

“It’s who you are, not what league you came from,” McCaffery said. “And I said I had the exact same conversation with you guys five years ago when you were trying to figure out who Kevin Martin was, where’s Cullowhee, North Carolina? He averaged 24 points a game, and they’re paying him 60 million. So it doesn’t matter. He’s from Zanesville, Ohio, he didn’t go to Ohio State, he went to Western Carolina. Now, why did that happen? Who knows? But he’s one of the best players in the NBA.”