CALEDONIA — Cooper McCleskey has been to a basketball game at the FedEx Forum, so he knows how far you have to look up to find the nose-bleed seats.
The Caledonia High School junior guard/forward was in attendance on Dec. 16, 2017, to see the Boston Celtics beat the Memphis Grizzlies in a NBA matchup in Memphis, Tennessee. McCleskey said he recalls Memphis center Marc Gasol scoring 30 points in the game, which Boston won 102-93. Kyrie Irving had 20 points to pace six Celtics players in double figures.
After watching a game in the FedEx Forum, McCleskey will get his first chance to play in the arena when the Caledonia High boys basketball team takes on Tishomingo County at 2:30 p.m.. The schools’ girls basketball teams will play at 1 p.m. Friday. The teams then will stay and watch Memphis take on the Brooklyn Nets at 6 p.m.
“I thought it was crazy (when he found out prior to the season that Caledonia would play in the FedEx Forum). I thought they were joking,” said McCleskey, who doesn’t have a favorite NBA team just a top player, Kevin Durant of the Golden State Warriors. He also said he likes Gasol, the Grizzlies’ center.
A crowd of 17,794 packed the FedEx Forum for McCleskey’s last visit. He isn’t sure if there will be a capacity crowd of 18,119 on Friday for Memphis’ game against Brooklyn, but he is confident everyone will have a great experience playing in a professional arena.
“I think it is going to be weird as far as the 3-point line,” said McCleskey, referring to the different dimensions of arcs for the 3-point lines in high school (19 feet, 9 inches), college (20-9), and NBA (23-9 at its longest). “I will probably accidentally shoot some NBA threes.”
McCleskey said he never has had to look down and sort out which lines are the ones he is supposed to shoot behind. He said he won’t let it bother him Friday and that he will just let his shots fly.
Caledonia High coach Gary Griffin said he isn’t sure how many lines will be on the court, but he knows all of the players will have to adjust to the more spacious confines and different sight lines.
“I feel this will be a good experience for our students,” said Griffin, who played college basketball at Porterville College in California and Mid Plains Community College in North Platte, Nebraska. “When I look back, you look at the memories you have created, I think this will be a great experience to play on the Memphis Grizzlies’ floor.”
Griffin is looking forward to seeing his boys team, which is 14-2, and his girls team, which is 2-10, experience basketball on a bigger scale. He said the girls team, which has eight ninth-graders and five 10th-graders, continues to learn how to play together and at a faster pace. He said the boys team, which has lost only to Noxubee County and Shannon by one point, has grown from last season, his first as head coach at the school. He said Jarvis Leigh has learned a lot after starting last season as a freshman, as has McCleskey, who also saw a lot of minutes in 2017-18.
“They communicate. They play well together. They don’t mind sharing the basketball,” said Griffin, whose team is 2-1 in Class 4A, Region 2. “When we started practice, I could tell a sense of togetherness with the kids. Each kid on the floor can handle the basketball, so when you have five players who can dribble and pass and create for each other, it becomes very easy for them to work together.”
McCleskey agreed that chemistry has been an important part of the Confederates’ success. He said he and senior Romeo Sanders made a point before the season to stress the importance of playing together after the 2017-18 team had its share of growing pains. This season, though, Caledonia has benefited from the arrival of Tyrin Johnson and Devonte Martin from Columbus High. The maturation of Sanders also has helped everyone elevate their games.
“We were playing more selfish last year,” McCleskey said. “We bought in at the beginning of the season to be unselfish. We have played as a team more this year.”
Griffin hopes that mentality will stick. He also hopes a game in a venue like the FedEx Forum will set the stage for success in other venues. Caledonia will play its Class 4A, Region 2 tournament at the Davis Event Center on the campus of Itawamba Community College in Fulton. The Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) will kick off state tournament play March 1 in Jackson at Jackson State, Mississippi Coliseum. Forty-eight boys teams and 48 girls teams will compete for the chance to play for a state title.
“W very easily could be 16-0, so we’re in a good place right now,” Griffin said, “but any coach you talk to will say never be satisfied because the road always can bumpy. You’re only an injury away or something crazy happening away from losing 10 in a row. That is the way you have to approach it.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 44 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 44 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
