Her senior basketball season had begun, yet Julia McClure still didn’t know what her future held.
Sure, McClure knew she was going to have yet another sensational season, playing for the Patriots of Secaucus High School, like she did for the previous three seasons, earning Hudson Reporter All-Area First Team honors all three years.
But there were no college offers to speak of. Unlike her friend and teammate, point guard Andie Lennon, who had secured a ride to Caldwell College, McClure had only interest from NCAA Division III schools that don’t offer scholarships, only financial aid packages.
And McClure’s hopes and dreams always involved earning a scholarship to college to play basketball.
McClure is also a standout volleyball player and softball performer, but her favorite sport has always been basketball.
But with no offers and graduation looming, McClure’s future was in question.
“Sure, I was definitely concerned,” McClure said. “I started to make a highlight film for volleyball, because I was getting interest for volleyball. But I would always prefer basketball. It was always my dream to become a [NCAA] Division I scholarship basketball player. Ever since I was younger, it was my dream. But I really had nothing for basketball.”
McClure was always stuck between a rock and a hard place, because she was basically undersized in the eyes of the big-time college programs. At 5-foot-8, McClure isn’t your prototypical inside player. The major colleges all look for someone 6-foot and taller.
However, no one could ever argue with McClure’s performance level. She has averaged nearly 17 points and 10 rebounds per game since she was a freshman. She has taken on girls much taller and larger and more than held her own. Size was never once a deterrent to McClure – except for securing that long-time dream of a scholarship.
“I always said that if she were about three inches taller, she would have every college in America knocking on her door,” said Secaucus head girls’ basketball coach John Sterling. “I never once saw her size getting in her way, but schools are always going to go by size first.”
It looked as if McClure was going to have to settle on a volleyball scholarship, which was not her initial intention.
“It was very frustrating for her, because I knew it was always her dream,” Sterling said.
But then, almost by magic, Wagner College got an open scholarship. Wagner always had mild interest in McClure, especially after seeing her play in the Wagner Elite Camp with her AAU team last summer.
“At the time, the Wagner coaches told me that they didn’t have a scholarship to give me,” McClure said. “I would have never known that there eventually would be one.”
One of the recruits that Wagner initially sought had a change of mind and went elsewhere, opening up a spot for McClure.
With that open window, McClure worked with the Secaucus boys’ basketball coach Carlos Cueto, himself a NCAA Division I scholarship player at the University of Richmond in his playing days, to get ready for a final audition for the Division I school located on Staten Island.
The last-minute audition worked, because Wagner finally offered McClure the long-awaited scholarship, which she gladly accepted.
And with that, McClure became the first Secaucus girls’ basketball player to ever earn a scholarship to an NCAA Division I school.
“I really wasn’t expecting Wagner,” McClure said. “I was actually in shock. I was a little upset when they told me over the summer that they didn’t have a scholarship for me and was surprised when they got back to me. It was always my dream. I’m blessed to be the first from Secaucus.”
It’s also a place of distinction for Sterling, who has been a head girls’ basketball coach for 23 years at Wood-Ridge, Bogota and now Secaucus and never had the chance to mentor a player who went on to a Division I school.
“It’s quite an honor,” Sterling said. “It’s very special. Most coaches never get a chance to coach a player like her. I’m so happy for Julia. She’s worked so hard to get where she wanted to go.”
Wagner is not looking at McClure as strictly an inside player, which is fine, because McClure has played three different positions over her tenure at Secaucus.
“My whole life, I’ve been a versatile player,” McClure said. “I know I have to play three different positions in college. I always had that versatility and I enjoyed that.”
Incredibly, McClure had the weight of the world on her shoulders, worrying about her future, while her final basketball season at Secaucus had already begun. But she was always true to form.
“I never saw the decision bothering her or affecting her play,” Sterling said. “I’m sure it was bothering her, but I never saw anything differently, because she has played extremely well.”
In fact, McClure has enjoyed some of the best basketball of her life = which is saying something about someone who has scored 1,250-plus points in her career and pulled down close to 1,000 rebounds.
McClure had a remarkable run in the prestigious Joe Poli Holiday Tournament at Pascack Valley, one of the premier girls’ basketball holiday tourneys in New Jersey, with eight of the top teams from northern New Jersey in the field.
McClure had one of the best games of her career, scoring 25 points and grabbing 15 rebounds in a win over perennial state power Paramus Catholic in the first round, then had 12 points and eight rebounds in a win over host school Pascack Valley in the semifinals and had 19 points and 10 rebounds and three assists in a 51-48 win over Northern Valley/Old Tappan in the championship game, leading Secaucus to becoming the first NJSIAA Group I school to ever win the Joe Poli tourney title.
McClure was named the Most Valuable Player of the tourney. Earlier in the season, McClure had 27 points and 10 rebounds in a win over High Point.
In fact, all Secaucus has done this season is win, posting a perfect 7-0 record to date.
For her efforts, McClure has been selected as The Hudson Reporter Athlete of the Week for the past week, becoming the first honoree in the winter scholastic sports season and the first recipient of the 2015 calendar year.
McClure believes that accepting the scholarship from Wagner has helped her play better basketball.
“I think it was almost a subconscious relief,” said Wagner, who will major in chemistry at Wagner with the hopes of one day becoming a veterinarian. “Definitely, a lot of weight came off my shoulders. I didn’t have to impress anyone anymore. I was playing basketball for myself and my team. I also think I play better against the better competition. Definitely, the Paramus Catholic game was the best game I’ve had.”
Sterling has noticed a little bit of a difference in McClure’s play since the decision was made final.
“I think she was relieved and thrilled to have the whole college thing behind her,” Sterling said. “She has played better, but she’s always played the best she could for Secaucus. I always expect so much from her. She scored 27 in that one game and I thought she had nine. I never realized she dominated as much as she did. Sometimes, I take it for granted how good she really is, but she is a better player this year. I couldn’t ask for more.
Added Sterling, “It’s a credit to her, because this is the smallest team we’ve ever had. But Julia always looks forward to playing against the biggest girls. She always plays with hustle and intensity. She takes a lot of pride in those areas. She plays hard all the time and gives everything she has. Paramus Catholic had two girls who were 6-foot-2, but Julia was right there, like always, battling away. She’s actually a tough matchup for the other team, because they don’t know how to guard her.”
McClure doesn’t want her great run to end in January. There are bigger goals ahead, like a possible Hudson County Tournament title or even an NJSIAA state sectional crown – titles that have eluded Secaucus in the past.
“We know that this is our year,” McClure said. “We obviously have our goals, but winning that tournament has shown how well we’re playing. We can win this year. We have to prove ourselves and I definitely feel like I can prove myself.”
Especially since she now has a distinction that no Secaucus girls’ basketball player ever had before, that being an NCAA Division I scholarship player.
“It really hasn’t sunk in yet,” McClure said. “Maybe when Signing Day [Feb. 4] comes around, it will sink in more.” – Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.