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Brothers in arms, on the court
(as published in Whoosh! magazine Jan. 22, 2007)
FULLCOURT PRESS: Stewart and Mayo
Sophomore Josh Mayo (pictured) has developed a friendship with freshman Spencer Stewart. Off the court, the duo gets together to play the new XBox 360 hit video game “Rainbow Six: Vegas.”
“We’re teammates in that game, so we work together,” said Stewart, a freshman point guard from Edwardsville.
Their mission in Vegas: Wipe out the terrorists with state-of-the-art weapons. That’s what they do in the fantasy world of video games.
On the reality of the basketball court, the two are almost like brothers. Each experienced a successful high school career with some bumps in the road. Each has also felt the growing pains of being a freshman at UIC. The parallels are quite striking.
At the start of last season, when Mayo was a freshman, he came off the bench behind D.J. Smedley. A few games into the season, Smedley injured his right ankle and Mayo was inserted into the starting lineup.
Mayo’s first start came at Georgia Tech, historically an ACC powerhouse. All the baby-faced guard did was score a career-high 21 points. He calmly sank 9-of-10 free throws and handled a Georgia Tech press with aplomb in a 73-51 win.
Mayo scored in double figures in four of the Flames’ next eight games, but hit a terrible slump, missing all 12 of his shot attempts in back-to-back games with Butler and Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He rebounded to post six consecutive double-figure scoring games down the stretch, including a 21-point effort at Wisconsin-Milwaukee and 23 points at Murray State, helping UIC to win eight of its final 12 contests.
Mayo, a sophomore out of Merrillville, Ind., has been a mentor for Stewart.
“I look up to Josh, because he got to start last year as a freshman,” Stewart said. “I felt that he was gaining a leadership role. This summer, I saw what he was doing to help the team and tried to add that to my game. I’m learning a lot from him.”
Stewart started this season as a reserve until Mayo injured his left Achilles’ tendon against Miami (Ohio) on Nov. 21. Head coach Jimmy Collins inserted Stewart into the lineup and he nearly pulled off a triple-double in his first career start, posting nine points, eight rebounds and eight assists in a victory over Florida A&M on Nov. 24.
A few really solid games, Stewart hit a tough patch in December, beginning with the Illinois game at the United Center when he shot 2-for-10 from the field and committed six turnovers. He shot 10-for-44 from the field in a seven-game stretch before associate head coach Mark Coomes decided to start T.J. Gray against Butler.
“I definitely see it the similarities,” Mayo said. “The whole team saw it. They were saying ‘Déjà vu’ when I got hurt. He’ll come out of his shooting slump.”
“I think it’s always tough for a freshman to have consistency over the long haul,” Coomes added. “When you are a freshman and you’re asked to play a lot of minutes, I think you’re going to be inconsistent. You’re going to need to learn to be consistent on this level, because it’s a big change from high school. Both of them are doing well in the adjustment period.”
When Mayo returned from his Achilles’ injury on Dec. 2, he started in the backcourt with Stewart for the first time. Collins believed that his ideal lineup with the two young guards, who are both capable of running the ballclub and shooting consistently.
“When we’re on the floor together, we’re looking for each other,” Mayo said. “We’re both thinking pass-first, especially Spencer. I’m thinking that way. I know if I pass it to him, he might get it right back to me.”
ATHLETIC FAMILIES
Stewart said basketball was always a part of growing up. “Ever since I can remember, I always had a basketball,” Stewart said. “From baby pictures to all the way through growing up.”
Stewart said he played in youth leagues and had a quite a few battles with his father, Eric.
“[My dad] was a little tough on me,” Stewart said. “There were a lot driveway battles, 1-on-1s and working on my shot.
“It wasn’t until my freshman year when I started beating him, and then he quit playing me.”
Mayo said his father, Robert, got him into the sport. Mayo started out playing in local leagues in Gary, Ind. at 7 years old. His older brothers, Robert and Kevin also liked to play, but neither played in high school.
“They would beat me and push me around,” Mayo said. “I couldn’t beat them until I was a junior in high school.”
Mayo didn’t dismiss the notion of crafting his outside shot to avoid contact from his brothers.
Stewart also has two older siblings, sisters Amanda and Tiffany. He took his lumps from the duo, who both played softball and volleyball.
“They were athletic growing up and they used to beat me in basketball until sometime in grade school,” Stewart said.
Stewart said his family often travels to a lot of his games including many on the road. He appreciates the support, but he also receives constructive criticism.
HIGH SCHOOL
Mayo played at Merrillville High School and was the star of his team as a sophomore when the Pirates made an improbable run at a state championship in Indiana.
He helped Merrillville to the Class 4A Final Four in 2002-03, tallying 33 points and seven rebounds in regional championship win over South Bend Riley before the Pirates bowed out against powerful DeKalb.
Though he played on the varsity a bit as freshman, Mayo averaged nearly 14 points a game and shot 40 percent from three-point range as a sophomore despite missing some time with a broken finger.
“It was very exciting, because we put in a lot of work that year,” Mayo said. “Our record wasn’t that great. We started off pretty slow, but we found a heat wave and rode all the way to semistate.”
Mayo rode the crest of his heat wave into solid junior and senior seasons.
Despite missing some time due to a broken toe as a junior, Mayo was named Second Team All-Area by the Times of Northwest Indiana. He averaged 16.2 points, 3.1 assists and 1.5 steals per game and shot 88 percent from the free-throw line.
As a senior, he averaged 13.7 points and 4.0 assists per contest and shot 42 percent from three-point range and 83 percent from the free-throw line.
Stewart had plenty of success at Edwardsville High School, especially in his senior season when the Tigers were undefeated in the regular season and rode their momentum to the state quarterfinals in Peoria.
Edwardsville lost in the quarterfinal game to Marshall 65-54, but Stewart capped off a tremendous season with his typical all-around effort of five points, six assists and eight rebounds. Stewart averaged 10.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, 8.1 assists and 3.2 steals per game for the Tigers, who finished 30-1.
Among Stewart’s accolades: First-Team Southwestern Conference, Second-Team All-State from the Associated Press, First-Team All-Area in the Belleville News-Democrat, Special Mention All-State in the Chicago Tribune, Second-Team All-Metro in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and among 10 players who were named First-Team All-State for Class AA by the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association. He also finished eighth in the voting for Mr. Basketball of Illinois.
Stewart credits his high school coach, Mike Waldo, for his unselfish mentality.
“Coach Waldo’s system did that for me,” Stewart said. “Basketball is a team game and he instilled that into our minds. Everybody on the bench contributes to a victory.
“He was very fundamental. He had a good system that everyone abided by.”
Stewart, a four-year starter at Edwardsville, injured his right hand late in his junior season as the Tigers fell short of making it to Peoria.
“It was coming close to postseason when I broke it,” Stewart said. “We had an opportunity to advance far. It came at a bad time.”
He did average 9.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 9.1 assists and 3.8 steals per outing for Edwardsville as a junior en route to Class AA All-State Special Mention honors.
Mayo also believed his high school coach at Merrillville, Jim East, was a huge influence in his game and his mentality.
“He taught me a lot of fundamentals, a lot of defense,” Mayo said. “He stressed defense and discipline.”
WELCOME TO UIC
UIC associate head coach Mark Coomes believes that Stewart (left) and Mayo will become a great guard tandem as upperclassmen. Stewart was pursued by Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, Illinois State, Indiana State, Eastern Illinois, and Bradley, while Mayo was also sought by Wisconsin-Green Bay and Northwestern.
“On my visit here, everybody pretty much took me in with open arms,” Stewart said. “I really liked the camaraderie that I saw. It was a bunch of great guys. I was eager to be a part of it.”
Mayo agreed with him, and added, smiling: “The steak at Carmichael’s was nice too.”
Both players visited Chicago long before their commitments. Stewart’s older sister, Amanda, has a job as a graphic designer and moved up a few years ago and Mayo played some AAU basketball in the area.
Both players have shown flashes of brilliance during their short time at UIC.
Despite struggling a bit with his Achilles’ injury, Mayo is the Flames’ third-leading scorer this season at 11.5 points per game and shoots 39 percent from three-point range. He also averages 2.4 assists per outing. Last season, Mayo also finished third in scoring at 10.1 points per game, while handing out 2.5 assists per contest.
Stewart is averaging 5.5 points, 2.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists, while playing in 18 of the Flames’ first 19 games.
They’ve started six games together in the backcourt, but now for the time being, Stewart will come off the bench, and he’ll continue learning.
“I have to pay closer attention to T.J. and Mayo to see what’s working for them and what’s not working,” Stewart said. “It’s like having a coach’s view of the game. I’m hoping to bring that over into the game.”
While both continue to work toward their degrees – Mayo in movement science and Stewart in secondary education – they are well on their way to becoming the guard tandem of the future at UIC.
“By the time they’re upperclassmen, I see guys that are like Butler guards,” Coomes said. “I think they’re going to be really good.”
Mayo strongly believes their potential is unlimited.
“I believe the sky’s the limit for us,” he said. “People are expecting great things from us, and that’s what we’re going to try to give them.”
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