p> Four McGlynn may be an undersized first-year guard, but don’t tell him that.

After leading Vermont in scoring, playing the role of sixth man and leading the team to their second ever win in the NCAA tournament, McGlynn earned America East Rookie of the Year honors.

Recently, I caught up to him to talk about the season and what he hopes to accomplish as a Catamount.

With all that he was able to accomplish as a first-year, McGlynn said the highlight of his season was winning the first game against Lamar in the NCAA tournament.

“It was the kind of thing that you watch as a kid and think how awesome it would be and then it actually happens,” McGlynn said. “That was pretty cool.”

McGlynn was brought to Vermont by the recruiting of coach John Becker and former Vermont head coach Mike Lonergan.

Academics also influenced his decision. Both McGlynn and his parents wanted a place where he could get a good education and play basketball.

“It’s a great area, and I knew it was a place where I could come and play right away,” McGlynn said.

In high school, McGlynn starred on his high school team in York, Pa., averaging 24 points in his senior season. He was named all-county in each of his final three high school seasons.

This shifted once McGlynn got to UVM. “I was still expected to score a lot, but it was more of a team environment,” he said. “I was expected to not only score, but also play more defense than I normally had to in high school.”

The main thing McGlynn struggled with was defense. In high school, McGlynn “got to shoot the ball every single time.” This was not the same in Vermont and coaches pushed him.

“At the end of the season I guess it was obvious that my defense had gotten better because I played a lot more minutes,” he said.

Sixth man was not a role that he had ever previously filled, but he got used to it as the season went on.

“It was pretty cool being able to come off the bench and be a huge spark for the team,” McGlynn said.

McGlynn has goals for the next season. “[I would like to] start and have the same scoring impact, or increase it a little bit more,” he said. “Defensively still do the same things, like always play defense like the coaches ask.”

Going into next season, McGlynn’s focus is not so much on defense, but instead to, “work on my ball handling a little bit more and get better going off of the dribble.”

Despite losing against University of North Carolina in the second round of the NCAA tournament, McGlynn thought that playing against one the top basketball schools in the nation was “awesome.”

“Obviously we wanted to win,” he said. “But they are a good team and I think all five of their starters are going into the draft and are projected to be in the top 15, so you can’t really be too upset about that. ”

The Vermont community has impressed McGlynn and their support has meant a lot to him.

“It’s one of the best places that I have been. The community is behind you 100 percent.”

Only time will tell how far McGlynn is able to go here at UVM. His goals for his time here at UVM include, “basketball-wise playing in the NCAA tournament for four years … In school, get a good degree, and if playing professional basketball doesn’t work out in the future, hopefully I have a great degree from UVM to fall back on.”

In just a few short months, the Catamount community will again cheer, “Four for three.”

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