EDINBURG, Texas -- Former Red Lake High School standout Rob McClain Jr. will continue his basketball career at NCAA Division I University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. UTRGV head coach Lew Hill announced Wednesday that McClain had signed his National Letter of Intent to join the Vaqueros.
The 6-5, 185-pound guard helped lead Red Lake to four consecutive Class A state tournament appearances from 2014-17. McClain averaged 16.4 points, 11.2 rebounds, 7.7 assists, 2.8 blocks and 5.6 steals per game while shooting 60.1 percent from the field as a senior in 2016-17.
Following his days with the Warriors, McClain -- a member of the Muscogee Tribe -- played two seasons at United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck, N.D. As a sophomore in 2018-19, he earned NJCAA All-American honors by averaging 23.1 points, 11.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 2.2 blocks and 2.3 steals per game while shooting 56.9 percent from the field and 38.5 percent from behind the arc in 32 games.
McClain led the Thunderbirds to the Region XIII Championship by leading the conference in scoring, rebounding, blocks and steals. He led the NJCAA in field goals made and defensive rebounding while ranking seventh in scoring.
McClain graduates as UTTC's all-time leader in rebounds (693), blocks (115) and steals (180).
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"Rob's a scorer that can shoot the ball," Hill said in a release. "He's a good versatile player, just like we like. He is really good defensively. He can get in the passing lanes, get the ball of the glass, bring it down himself and make plays. He's really athletic and can score at three levels, finishing, at mid-range, and by shooting the three. We're excited about him. We think he can explode in this up-tempo offense and up-tempo defense of ours."
McClain will begin his junior season in 2019-20 for UTRGV, located in Edinburg, Texas. The Vaqueros are members of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC).
UTRGV finished the 2018-19 season at 20-17 overall and 9-7 in the WAC, earning a bid to the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.
