Miami Hurricanes Men's Basketball Player Preview: A.J. Staton-McCray
For those who might not be familiar with the name A.J. Stanton-McCray, venture back to the round of 64 match-ups in last season's NCCA Tournament between Samford and Kansas. He was involved in a controversial call that advanced the Jayhawks to the next round instead of an unpredictable upset that could have shocked the nation.
A clean free play down one with under 18.1 seconds left on the clock, Stanton-McCray when up and blocked a game-saving dunk called a foul, which aided Kansas into victory. Heartbreaking but with the game he played and the effort he showed, he worked his way to a spot on the Miami Hurricanes men's basketball roster.
Staton-McCray is a 6-inch 5-feet, 195-pound junior guard who played 62 games over the last two seasons at Samford. Those numbers seem short for a junior, but he dealt with an injury that sidelined him for the rest of his sophomore year after only playing three games. This past season was a chance for him to get back into form, and that is exactly what he did.
He played in 31 games while earning the starting 11 times averaging 22 minutes a game. He averaged 8.2 points and 4.1 rebounds per game while shooting 45 percent from the floor and 77 percent from the free-throw line. His season high during his junior campaign was 18 but he is more impactful as a defensive guard. He averages 1.8 steals a game during conference play and in a guard-heavy ACC, that will come in handy.
Head coach Jim Larrañaga was key to getting his defensive stars back into his rotation and now the guard positions that struggled with depth issues last season seem to have bolstered up for insurance purposes. He might be able to go 10 deep with this roster and the amount of talent on it and it all favors the head coach and the chance to return to prominence.
