SPORTS
SATURDAY, MAY 15, 2021
Hitt ing the high score
Max McCullough shatters basketball points record at EOU
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Every-
where you look in the
Eastern Oregon Univer-
sity men’s basketball record
book, you can fi nd the
name of Max McCullough.
During his fourth season
at EOU, McCullough
became the school’s all-
time leader in points
scored, three-point fi eld
goals made and free throws
made.
McCullough has
recorded 2,061 career
points to date, becoming
the fi rst Mountaineer to
surpass 2,000 points.
Randy Dolven set the pre-
vious record of 1,790 points
in 1967.
“Basketball is some-
thing I’ve been working
toward my whole life,”
McCullough said. “To
be able to play at the col-
lege level, let alone break
those records, really shows
how much I’ve worked and
proves to myself that it has
all paid off .”
Born in Spokane, Wash-
ington, and raised in Post
Falls, Idaho, McCullough
joined the program in 2016
after a prolifi c high school
career. Former EOU head
coach Isaac Williams
recruited McCullough at
the beginning of his tenure.
An effi cient scorer right
from the start, McCullough
helped the 2016-17 Moun-
taineers set a season record
for points scored (2,976)
and scoring average (90.7
points per game). How-
ever, EOU has missed out
on the National Associa-
tion of Intercollegiate Ath-
letics tournament every
season since McCullough’s
freshman year. Heading
into next season of
his eligibility at EOU,
McCullough is making it
his personal goal to change
that.
“The individual stats
have been awesome, but
I would trade that for a
national tournament run
any day of the week,”
McCullough said.
The guard has a
career record of 85-43 as
a Mountaineer in addi-
tion to his scoring acco-
lades. McCullough’s career
scoring average of 18.9
points per game sits at fi fth
all time in the EOU record
book.
“He just works as hard
as any player we’ve had
over the four years I can
speak on,” said assistant
coach Chris Kemp. “He
just lives in the gym that
way.”
One aspect of
McCullough’s game that
improved over time was his
ability to record assists and
get teammates open looks
at the basket. McCullough
boosted his assist average
every season at EOU.
“I like to have the ball
in my hands, and a big
thing for me is to make
The Observer/Ronald Bond, File
Eastern Oregon University men’s basketball player Max McCullough goes
in for a score in a Dec. 14, 2019, game in La Grande against Pacifi c Univer-
sity. He scored 41 points in that game. McCullough is the fi rst EOU men’s
basketball player to score more than 2,000 career points.
my team better and exploit
mismatches,” McCullough
said.
McCullough led the
Cascade Collegiate Confer-
ence with 102 assists last
season, averaging 5.2 per
game.
For McCullough, several
road bumps forced him to
overcome adversity during
his time so far as a Moun-
taineer. The guard missed
the entire 2018-19 season
due to a severe ankle
injury, which eventually
required surgeries on both
ankles.
“Mentally it was tough,”
McCullough said. “It took
me pretty much all of
last season, and I didn’t
feel like myself until the
playoff s.”
The ankle injury made it
diffi cult for McCullough to
train during the off season.
Still, McCullough bounced
back and averaged 19.6
points per game in 2019
and 21.1 points per game
this past season.
“I think the mental side
was just as tough as the
physical side,” Kemp said.
“It was a grind for him the
whole year, which would be
hard on anyone.”
In addition to injury,
COVID-19 has presented
several challenges. The
2020-21 season was delayed
and shortened, with no fans
able to attend games.
Throughout the buildup
to the season, the NAIA
moved back the start
date multiple times.
McCullough said the
EOU basketball team was
training all through that
waiting period.
“We had just been
going so hard for so
long that once (the
season) got here we
were kind of exhausted,”
McCullough said.
Even with these obsta-
cles, McCullough excelled
in 2020, averaging career
highs in nearly every cat-
egory. He converted 10
three-point fi eld goals
against Warner Pacifi c
on April 3 and scored 43
points against Bushnell on
April 16. In the matchup
against Warner Pacifi c,
McCullough drained a
corner three to pass Dol-
ven’s career scoring record.
The Cascade Collegiate
Conference announced
on Thursday, May 13,
that McCullough won the
2021 Player of the Spring
award, as well as First
Team All-CCC. The Col-
lege Sports Informa-
tion Directors of America
named McCullough to the
2021 Academic All-Dis-
trict Team, his second time
receiving the honor.
Academics is a crucial
element of being a student
athlete for McCullough,
which Kemp credited to his
competitive personality.
“I’ve never heard of him
getting any Bs or anything.
School comes pretty natu-
rally for him,” Kemp said.
“I think all the teachers
love him.”
Due to NAIA eligi-
bility rules, which granted
players an extra year
of eligibility due to the
COVID-19 pandemic,
McCullough has his eyes
set on coming back strong
next year and fostering a
winning environment at
Eastern.
“I think we’re going
to have a good shot at
making a run in the con-
ference tournament and at
the national level as well,”
McCullough said. “That is
something I really want to
achieve, taking EOU to the
national tournament my
senior year.”
Wallowa Valley vs. Burns at
Baker City, 12 p.m.
EOU at CCC Outdoor
Championships, La Grande.
PREP TRACK AND FIELD
MONDAY, MAY 17
Pioneer Park fi elds may get artifi cial turf
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Por-
tions of two fi elds at Pio-
neer Park could be virtually
weatherproof in the near
future.
The La Grande School
District, the city of La
Grande, Eastern Oregon
University and local busi-
nesses and donors are
teaming up in an attempt
to install artifi cial turf at
Optimist Field and either
Sam Marcum Field or
Doug Trice Community
Field.
The La Grande School
Board agreed via con-
sensus on Wednesday, May
12, to explore the possi-
bility of helping to get arti-
fi cial turf on two Pioneer
Park fi elds.
Plans have not been
fi nalized, but they call
for artifi cial turf at Opti-
mist Field, where base-
ball games are played, and
either Marcum Field or
Trice Field, both softball
game sites. Artifi cial turf
would be installed only on
the infi elds of Optimist and
Marcum fi elds. However, if
artifi cial turf were installed
at Trice Field, it would be
in the infi eld and outfi eld.
Local sports schedule
SATURDAY, MAY 15
PREP BASEBALL
Baker/Powder Valley at Nyssa,
10 a.m.
Union/Cove at McLoughlin,
11 a.m.
Burns vs. Wallowa Valley at
Baker City, 2 p.m.
La Grande JV vs. Crook County
at Pendleton, 1 p.m.
La Grande JV at Pendleton,
4 p.m.
PREP SOFTBALL
Baker/Powder Valley at Nyssa,
10 a.m.
Union/Cove at Umatilla,
11:30 a.m.
Local sports
roundup
WEDNESDAY, MAY 12
PREP SOFTBALL
Grant Union/Prairie City
defeated Baker/Powder Valley
11-0, 21-3.
THURSDAY, MAY 13
La Grande at the Ontario
Greater Oregon League
Invitational, Ontario.
COLLEGE TRACK & FIELD
PREP BASEBALL
La Grande at District Playoff in
The Dalles, time and opponent
TBD
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PREP BASEBALL
La Grande on the road defeated
Pendleton 7-4.
Baker/Powder Valley at home
defeated Wallowa Valley 3-0.
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THE OBSERVER — 7A
Turf will be installed at
Trice Field only if addi-
tional funding needed for
it becomes available, said
Cody Bowen, co-head
coach of La Grande High’s
girls softball team.
Bowen said it would not
be feasible to install artifi -
cial turf only in the infi eld
of Trice because its outfi eld
tends to take on water when
conditions are wet. If turf
were installed only in the
infi eld there would be times
when the infi eld would be
playable but the outfi eld
would not be.
“The outfi eld would be a
swamp. It would be point-
less to install turf only in
the infi eld,” said Bowen,
who also is Union County
sheriff .
A big reason Bowen
would prefer to have arti-
fi cial turf at Trice Field is
that it would be easier to
protect than Marcum Field,
which vandals sometimes
drive across and damage.
Bowen said a high fence
could be put around Trice
Field but not Marcum Field
because a portion of it must
be kept open to allow youth
football games at Pioneer
Park in the fall.
The La Grande School
District would provide
between $130,000 and
$150,000 for the project, the
city of La Grande’s parks
department would con-
tribute $25,000 and EOU
would donate $75,000. In
addition, several Union
County businesses and
community members have
indicated they would donate
their services, said Parker
McKinley, La Grande High
School’s baseball coach.
La Grande City Man-
ager Robert Strope said
there would need to be a
bidding process before the
city council would award
a contract for the project,
which leaves the project
with an uncertain timeline.
While there is hope work
could start as early as May
or June, the bidding could
push that start date back
weeks or even months.
McKinley said Opti-
mist Field needs artifi cial
turf because it receives a
lot of wear with the Tigers
and EOU baseball teams
playing home games
there. La Grande High
has played at Optimist for
decades and EOU began
playing there this season
after reinstating its base-
ball program.