Scotland’s McLean signs for Gardner-Webb in track & field

LAURINBURG — Scotland’s Jumarius “J.J.” McLean bet on himself this past track & field season.

That bet paid off Thursday morning as he signed his letter-of-intent to continue his athletic career at Gardner-Webb University.

“It’s an amazing opportunity,” McLean said. “I put in all the hard work to get to this point, so it’s really just a blessing.”

Despite his success on the football field, McLean knew he wanted to run track at the collegiate level.

“It was a really hard decision, but I thought about it, and I felt like I was leaning more towards the track side than the football side,” McLean said. “It was really just a matter of which one I wanted to do more and that was track.”

After the end of football season in April, he shifted his focus, and ended up as Scotland’s most decorated track performer this past season.

McLean qualified for the 4A state meet in three events, the 4×100-meter relay, the triple jump and the long jump, with his best mark coming in the long jump, where he placed fourth in the state. He qualifed for states via runner-up finishes in the triple jump and long jump at the 4A Mideast Regional. Then, prior to that he was named “Boys Field Athlete of the Year” for the Sandhills Athletic Conference.

“Having the coaches I had — most of the coaches that coached track were also football coaches — the chemistry we had, they kept me going, they kept me energized, they kept me motivated to keep going and keep pushing and to keep working hard because they saw my potential,” McLean said. “I knew my potential, so I knew I could get to where I wanted to be before I left high school to start a new journey.”

McLean also considered other schools like the University of Memphis, Ferrum College and Methodist University, but Gardner-Webb set itself apart by making McLean feel like he was a part of its “family,” as he put it.

“They would hit me up every other day, every two days just to check on me and see how everything was going, seeing if my preparation was good and if I was feeling good,” McLean said. “They really kept at it as if I was already part of the Bulldog family. They wanted me to come. They just kept in touch.”

McLean isn’t headed to Gardner-Webb alone however, Scotland teammate and fellow sprinter Darrius Dockery is also committed to the Bulldogs.

“Not a lot of people get to do that,” McLean said. “So it was really just an honor for us to be going on with our career together. I see him as like a brother to me.”

McLean added that he was grateful for all the people in his life that helped him get to this point.

“I just want to thank my coaches, my friends, my family and my teammates for helping me reach this milestone,” McLean said. “It was really a blessing to actually be one of the first track commits out of Scotland High School, so that was a really big thing — making history.”