Sophomore Amir Maddred (Camden, NJ/Camden) of the Marshalltown Community College Men's Basketball team has signed a National Letter of Intent to play for Slippery Rock University next season. The Rock is an NCAA Division II program located in Slippery Rock, PA.
Maddred recently concluded his two-year career at MCC after earning All-Region XI Honorable Mention honors as a sophomore. The 6-7 forward helped lead the Tigers to 37 wins during his tenure while averaging 9.3 points per contest and shooting exactly 50.0 for his career.
"Slippery Rock has a strong tradition of success," Maddred stated on his reasoning for signing with the nationally prominent team. "I understand the history of Slippery Rock. I want to keep the tradition going and help the team make some noise."
The Rock has reached the NCAA Division II Tournament three times since the 2010-11 season and has not had a losing season over the last eight years. Some of that success can be attributed to former MCC Men's Basketball players. Former Tigers Jamal Gatali, Matej Delinac, and Luiz Santos have contributed on the court for the Rock. Gatali finished his career at Slippery Rock this past season, having played in 54 career games, starting 52.
Merdic Green, a former Tiger and teammate of Maddred's in 2014-15, will join The Rock next season as well.
"Slippery Rock seemed like a great fit. Along with it being closer to home, they play a nationally competitive schedule. Also having my good friend Merdic Green there was a big key to my decision."
MCC head coach Brynjar Brynjarsson pointed to Maddred's solid play in the post over the last two seasons as a reason Slippery Rock head coach Kevin Reynolds can expect a promising two years from Maddred. "Amir was a force down low for us in a very competitive conference," Brynjarsson noted. "His ability to find the basket and create space on the offensive end will help him tremendously at the next level."
Brynjarsson, who also had former assistant coach Bryen Spriggs move on to become an assistant at Slippery Rock from 2010-12, is pleased to see the 733 mile pipeline between Marshalltown, IA and Slippery Rock, PA continue. "Coach Reynolds has done a great job with our guys in the past and there's no reason to believe that he won't continue to develop Amir's career over the next two seasons. Anytime you can have a guy move on to a four-year school it's great, but to a program as successful as Slippery Rock makes it that much more exciting."
Maddred was thankful for his time spent at MCC and believed playing in the always-tough Region XI helped get him to a four-year school. "Playing at MCC helped me in a lot of ways. It allowed me to be more aware offensively and become more vocal on both ends of the court. No matter who you were playing in our conference, it was always a good game and always brought out the best in me. I'll miss playing in the challenging conference but glad it prepared me for the next step in my career."
Traveling half-way across the country to begin his college career, Maddred saw Marshalltown as a place that allowed him to focus on the important things. "Coming from a big city, it was hard at first to adjust to a small town in Iowa, but I realized it's what I needed. MCC allowed me to focus on my academics and basketball. It's a positive place to be. I'll miss all of my teammates from the past two years, but looking forward to the next challenge."
