Former Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Eric McClellan signed a new deal overseas with BC SCM Timisoara in Romania for the 2022-2023 season.
McClellan played at Gonzaga for two seasons from 2014-2016, helping lead the team to an improbable run to the Sweet 16 in the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
He has bounced around quite a bit since then, spending time in Belgium, Germany, Greece, Mexico, Lithuania, Austria, and most recently in Cyprus – where he averaged 17.9 points and 6.4 rebounds last year.
McClellan began his collegiate career at Tulsa before transferring to Vanderbilt after one season. He started 12 games for the Commodores in 2013-14, averaging 14.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 3.2 assists before heading to Gonzaga.
After spending the 2014-15 season in a reserve role, McClellan popped off during the 15-16 season, starting all 36 games and averaging 10.7 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 0.9 steals while shooting 34% from deep and 78.1% from the charity stripe.
McClellan was instrumental in perhaps the most fun Gonzaga tournament upset since 1999, when the No. 11 seeded Zags laid a beatdown on No. 3 Utah, 82-59. While Domantas Sabonis got all the attention for his 19 point, 10 rebound performance against Jakob Poetl, it was McClellan’s 22 points (on 9-12 shooting) that led the team.
Heck, without McClellan the Zags might not have even been in the NCAA Tournament, as he dropped 20 points on 5-9 shooting (9-9 from the free throw line) to hand Saint Mary’s a loss in the WCC Championship game, securing Gonzaga a (surprisingly necessary) automatic bid into the big dance.
McClellan is an all-time underappreciated Zag, and we wish him luck on his next stop in Romania.
Host – Locked on Zags Podcast
Writer – Ducks Wire
Great write up! I agree Eric is under appreciated, he works really hard and loves the game. Gotta respect it