Macklin Has Evolved With Tough Love, Soul Searching and a Hook Shot
Friday, January 28, 2011 | Men's Basketball, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The hook shot that Gators senior center Vernon Macklin has added to his repertoire in college is a weapon he wouldn't touch in high school.
No way. Not a chance. He was too cool for school back then.
Macklin's high school coach tried to get him to use it, but Macklin thought he knew best as a hot-shot recruit out of Portsmouth, Va. He was a McDonald's All-American, had his own nickname and a fan even built a website in his honor.
Seems like a long time ago now for the 24-year-old Macklin, who started his career at Georgetown before transferring to UF and sitting out the 2008-09 season.
“I thought the hook shot in high school was embarrassing,'' Macklin said. “So I never did it.''
Fast forward five years and there the 6-foot-10 Macklin was in Tuesday's 104-91 double-overtime win at Georgia cutting his way across the lane and firing a sweeping hook out of the reach of Georgia big man Trey Thompkins.
The shot looked like something you would see from a player in Chuck Taylors and helped Macklin score a career-high 23 points to go with nine rebounds. It also fired up ESPN analyst Jimmy Dykes as he called the game.
“That's a beautiful shot,'' Dykes said. “You don't see that shot used much anymore.''
The hook shot has been Macklin's most effective option in his final season, but the sweeping one like he tossed up at Georgia is rare. He first experimented with the shot after watching former Georgetown teammates Roy Hibbert and Jeff Green work on it in practice.
Florida head coach Billy Donovan gives credit where credit is due. Donovan has been hard on Macklin at times over the past three years, but he is quick to praise his big man for working to expand his game.
“He's worked hard at it,” Donovan said. “He's made progress and has become more of an offensive threat.”
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Macklin's success with the hook is one way to measure his progress on the court, but his transformation from a young player who thought he had all the answers to a respected veteran trying to end his college career on an upswing can't be quantified so easily.
To get from there to here has taken time and a few bumps and bruises of the ego along the way. It has taken tough love, soul searching and some difficult heart-to-heart talks with Donovan and his assistants.
Macklin looks back at the player he was when he first started at Georgetown and at the one he sees today and hardly recognizes the player in Hoya Blue.
“Coming out of high school, I thought I had it all figured out being an All-American and everything,'' Macklin said. “I thought I had a spot [at Georgetown] waiting for me. I got there and reality kicked it.''
More importantly, Macklin sees two different people. Whatever people see on the court comes from the changes he has made away from basketball.
“I'm more mature,'' he said. “I like being coached now. At one point, it was tough for me to be coached. I always thought that my opinion was right. Coming here, Coach Donovan will let you know. He don't sugarcoat anything.”
Actually, Macklin said Donovan let him know before he even made a commitment to transfer to Florida.
Macklin was initially drawn to Florida's program by his interest in the personal transformation of his former prep teammate at Hargrave (Va.) Military Academy, Marresse Speights. Macklin said Speights seemed like a different person and more-rounded player after his time at Florida, hardly resembling the teammate he once played and hung out with.
Macklin wanted to experience the same, so he spent a film session with Donovan before making a decision on where he would transfer.
Donovan didn't hold back as he analyzed Macklin's game.
“He did some things and said some things that I never had before,'' Macklin said. “He actually showed me all my weaknesses. I knew it would be a great place for me.''
There were still growing pains once he arrived at UF.
Gators assistant coach Larry Shyatt can remember when Macklin was less open and kept his distance. Shyatt would often back off, feeling at times like an outsider in Macklin's world.
But as Macklin started to adapt and was forced to watch from the bench for a year, Shyatt began to see a change.
“Maybe you start seeing that sand coming out of the bottle a little bit and so you start being a little bit more serious about things,'' Shyatt said. “He didn't really like criticism and he really didn't handle those situations well because things had come very easy to him early.
“He's worked hard, he's enjoyed success, and he's really grown. That's fun for everybody. I can assure you that he now I think views all of us as people who want to help him.
“All of us really enjoy working with him. It doesn't always end this way.''
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Macklin's growth on the court compares modestly to some of his development away from basketball. After averaging 10.6 points and 5.5 rebounds as a junior, he has increased his production to 11.4 points and 6.4 rebounds this season.
As one of five returning starters, Macklin has played within Donovan's system and has also tried to play the role of mentor to freshman center Patric Young.
Donovan has been impressed by the way Macklin has accepted his reality and developed into a more complete player.
“I don't think Vernon was ever viewed as a great scorer coming out of high school,” Donovan said. “He was viewed more as a great athlete, shot-blocker, could run the floor. But I think to his credit he's tried to get better at those things.”
Macklin grew up in Portsmouth, Va., ranked annually as one of the nation's most dangerous cities. He stayed away from trouble by starting to play football in middle school, dropping that sport in favor of the less-bruising basketball.
Plus, he had grown to well over 6-foot by the time he started playing in a church league and later at I.C. Norcom High. He transferred to Hargrave for his final prep season as one of the nation's most-recruited big men.
He knew there were walls that had to come down around him to fully blossom.
“It's a tough place to grow up, the neighborhood I lived in,'' he said. “I think it really helped me out and made me who I am. I saw a lot of things growing up and it just helped me get tougher. I love it. I can't wait to make my neighborhood and everybody back home proud of me.''
As his three years at Florida near an end, Macklin has already made Shyatt proud.
There's also plenty of basketball left for Macklin at UF, starting with Saturday's game at Mississippi State.
“This is a great case in study because Vernon Macklin is prepared for a lot of things now,'' Shyatt said. “Vernon Macklin is not just prepared for a hook shot and a basketball career that's going to last eight or nine more years. He is prepared for being a heck of a professional, a father, a husband.
“It's really neat when something is coming down the home stretch and really looking better than it did at one time.''
