Recent St. Ed’s graduate Andrew MacIntyre will officially become a college student when the summer semester starts at the University of South Carolina on June 24. He has a well-thought-out plan for the next phase of his life and preferred not to delay the inevitable transition from high school.
“I’m starting this summer and I’m going to major in sports management and entertainment,” MacIntyre explained. “I’m going to take some basic intro (introductory courses) and go up there to get used to the campus, meet people, and get a couple hours of credit.”
This is entirely consistent with the outgoing personality of a student-athlete who enrolled at St. Ed’s as a junior and immediately established himself as a favorite with teammates, coaches and teachers.
“My dad came to St. Edward’s as a sophomore, and my parents always wanted me to come here. Basketball is my No. 1 sport. I like it the most and I wasn’t going to be able to play varsity basketball at VBHS as a junior or senior.”
That statement speaks volumes about a young man with a realistic outlook on what lies ahead. He played varsity basketball for two seasons at St. Ed’s and will continue to enjoy his favorite sport on a recreational basis in college. At the same time, his chosen course of study reveals that he wants to stay close to athletics in some administrative capacity – even if he is not among the select few who get to participate at the next level.
“I’m definitely going to try to play intramural basketball. That will be my goal. There is an eight-court gym at USC, so I will be there every night. Maybe I’ll try some flag football or softball. I know I plan to stay active in sports.”
MacIntyre was active indeed at St. Ed’s. He was on the football team as a junior. That year the Pirates played for the state championship of the SSAC. He played lacrosse for two seasons on back-to-back FHSAA district championship teams.
“Honestly, football was a blast as a junior under coach (Bill) Motta. That year we had 12 seniors and we were all really close. We were together all summer and went all the way to the state final and lost (21-14). That just made the bonds even stronger.
“I decided not to come back as a senior because a lot of my friends graduated and I didn’t want to start over and go through the whole summer again. I just lost the love for the game and it was time to give it up.
“My favorite part about lacrosse was the contact. I liked to get out and mix it up a little bit. I played on defense for two district championship teams, but we were definitely a lot older and better the first year when we had quite a few more seniors. I played with a lot of those guys growing up on travel teams and we knew each other well.
“This year we were a lot younger and did well by winning the district championship. The second half of our season the team changed, something clicked and we got it going.”
In the final analysis it is the basketball court where MacIntyre found the most satisfaction, and that could very well influence the direction he takes should he opt for a career in sports management, entertainment, or even coaching. He was a pretty good player, too.
As a senior MacIntyre averaged 12 points and five boards per game. He was second on the team in both of those categories. His true specialty was long-range shooting. He led the team with 34 total threes while shooting a very respectable 34 percent from beyond the arc.
“Basketball was a lot of fun. Practices were always upbeat and enjoyable. Coach (Greg) Zugrave is a really good coach and he would always play with us in practice. Our trainer Jeremy Gillan played with us too. Both of those guys are really good players.
“Last year we had good senior leadership and everyone kind of bought into it. We were younger this year and had no bench to speak of. We only had seven or eight guys that could play, and that reflected in our record (8-18). It wasn’t what we hoped it would be.”
In terms of wins and losses, basketball did not fare as well as football or lacrosse for MacIntyre in two years at St. Ed’s. However, his basketball coach was able to put it all into the proper perspective.
Greg Zugrave nailed it, telling us, “Andrew is a young man everyone enjoys being around. I am certain that you will find him playing pick-up basketball every chance he gets. I know I would want to be on his team.”