Xavier's McDermott aspires to be just like his famous cousin

CEDAR RAPIDS - His jersey number is not a coincidence. It honors his favorite player.

"I actually switched my number this year," Cedar Rapids Xavier's Adam McDermott said. "I wore '22' and '23' last year. We had the home and away jerseys. But I wanted '3' this season."

He wanted '3,' and he wants to be like '3.' Creighton all-American Doug McDermott is Adam's first cousin and a basketball inspiration.

It's quite possible Doug McDermott will be college's basketball player of the year, and it's a guarantee he'll be a first-round NBA draft pick. By most accounts, he's a really good guy, too.

So why not aspire to emulate him?

"It's amazing to watch. He's been incredible," Adam McDermott said. "Player of the year (candidate) three years in a row, probably going to win player of the year this year. It's just awesome to watch him play. How hard he plays, how hard he cuts. Everything about him is just special."

There have been a lot of things special about Adam's junior season. The 6-foot-4 wing leads Xavier in scoring (16.3 points per game) and is second in rebounding.

He is as pure a shooter as you'll get in the Mississippi Valley Conference. You leave him alone, especially in the corners, and he'll bury it and you.

Xavier plays Dubuque Wahlert in a Class 3A substate final Monday night at Epworth. The winner advances to the state tournament next week.

"He needs to get stronger, and I think he understands that now," said Xavier Coach Ryan Luehrsmann. "He's going to work with a personal trainer over the summer."

But Luehrsmann, who played at the University of Iowa, thinks there's a chance Adam could follow his cousin to the Division I college ranks. He said Missouri State Coach Paul Lusk, a buddy of his, has asked to see tape of McDermott.

"That's the goal," Adam said. "I hope to play D-I. I definitely have to get stronger, quicker. But that's definitely the goal."

Adam said he has attended a couple of Creighton's games this season and gotten to talk with his cousin and uncle, Creighton Coach Greg McDermott. Greg and Adam's dad, Scott, are brothers.

He'll text Doug from time to time to wish him good luck or congratulate him on a good game.

"I'd say he's a huge motivation for me," Adam said. "He's really fun to watch. I try and base my game off of him. Just cutting hard and focusing, I guess."