McCallie’s David Craig and East Hamilton’s Cade Pendleton took very different paths to becoming big guys contributing in big ways for Chattanooga-area high school basketball programs.
Craig grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa. Soccer, rugby and cricket are the most popular sports there, but it was the allure of the hardwood that caught his attention at the age of 12.
A point guard at first, Craig quickly fell in love with the game. He couldn’t put the basketball down and started dreaming of playing in college. Those dreams became a reality this month when McCallie’s 7-foot-2, 265-pound center signed his letter of intent to play Division I basketball for Mercer University, a Southern Conference program in Macon, Georgia.
“Coming from South Africa, basketball is a rapidly growing sport with good talent but hardly any places for development,” Craig said. “McCallie put me in a position to model for people back home that if you devote yourself to a dream and put the work in, that it will eventually work itself out. To earn a full-ride scholarship is everything I could ask for. All the trials and tribulations I have been through are worth it.”
McCallie coach David Conrady has seen exceptional growth in a year’s time from Craig, whose rigorous work this past summer turned him into a much stronger and conditioned player who can do a lot more on the court.