By Adam Rickert
@MIPrepZoneMD on Twitter
De La Salle’s Kevin McKay and New Haven’s Innocent Nwoko took the same court for the first time last Wednesday, but it certainly will not be the last.
McKay played for Stevenson coach Mark LaCombe’s team in 8th Annual Macomb County All Star Game, while Nwoko suited up for his own New Haven coach Tedaro France’s team.
“I’m so happy I got to put the jersey back on,” said Nwoko when asked how it felt to wear his green and white New Haven threads one more time. “I thought I would never get to put it back on again.”
McKay and Team LaCombe took home a 107-93 victory, but perhaps the top storyline coming from Wednesday’s action has less to do with the game itself and more to do with the future.
McKay and Nwoko, who made names for themselves over the past few years as two of the top basketball players in Macomb County, will look to do the same this fall when they suit up as teammates at Central Michigan University.
“I never played against him and I’d never seen him play before,” said Mckay of Nwoko. “Just to come out here and see exactly what kind of player he is and what his strengths are was cool because it gives me a good idea of who my teammate is going to be up at Central.”
McKay could already tell that he, like so many others, should have no trouble getting along with Nwoko.
“As a person, he’s a really cool, funny and down-to-earth guy,” McKay said.
Along with his upbeat attitude, however, McKay noticed something else about Nwoko that he liked.
“He seems like a real hard worker,” he said. “I saw him at Central for my official visit and he wasn’t that big, but now it looks like he got into the weight from a lot and really bulked up.”
Nwoko, who stands at 6-11 and now has some added muscle, echoed a similar sentiment about McKay.
“It was my first time playing against him and I really liked it,” he said. “He’s a really good player. Oh, and he can really shoot.”