Middlebrooks, McGregor explain why North Idaho is the perfect fit for basketball
NIC’s men’s basketball team has as much talent as it does diversity. One student athlete has hopped islands to hop down the court in Idaho.
Edrico McGregor, a 6’8” sophomore power forward, has been a key player in helping the team reach an 18-4 record. McGregor is 21 years old, wears number 20 and is pursuing general studies.
He puts the “student” in “student athlete” by achieving a 3.8 GPA for the fall 2011 semester. His hometown is Nassau, which is located in the Bahamas. He attended C.C. Sweeting High School.
McGregor previously attended Meridian Community College in Meridian, Miss. He spent two years there, but didn’t play during his first year due to an injury. McGregor came to NIC when Meridian reduced financial aid for their athletes.
McGregor said the main reason he left was because he couldn’t afford to stay.
McGregor didn’t play organized basketball until college.
“I used to go to the park and just sit down and watch in order to try and learn how to play basketball,” McGregor said. “When I came to college the coaches started teaching me how to post up, rebound and this and that.”
McGregor is one of six children in his family and he is the second youngest. His father was a mechanic and his mother stayed at home to look after the family. McGregor said that the only way for him to go to college was to get a scholarship.
“Basketball wasn’t really my dream, but people kept pushing me towards basketball and telling me that I could play the game,” McGregor said. “So I just decided to try out and I made it onto the Bahamas national team after I graduated high school and I got to travel to Argentina with the team.”
McGregor said that as a child he didn’t have much to do but roam the streets.
“I used to live in the ghetto,” McGregor said. “We didn’t have any video games or much for entertainment. We couldn’t afford it.”
McGregor said he is being scouted by the University of Iowa, the University of Minnesota, Missouri State and Southern Illinois University.
“Edrico is an explosive athlete and as athletic as anybody is in the country,” said coach Phay. “He has great ability to score on the block and I think he rebounds at a very high level, coming up with a lot of big time rebounds for us.”
