Liberty Sophomore Scottie James Energizes Basketball Court

For Liberty sophomore forward Scottie James, basketball has always been a way of life.

At 6 feet 7 inches, he wreaks havoc all over the Big South Conference. James’ father introduced him to the game at a young age.

James, a redshirt sophomore, transferred to Liberty in 2016 after playing his freshman season at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. After being required to sit out the 2016-17 season due to NCAA transfer regulations, James is currently taking part in his second year of academic eligibility.

Anybody that watches James compete can see the physical brand of basketball he plays with. Beyond pure size and athleticism, his explosive style was most likely inspired by another man with the same last name – LeBron James.

“When LeBron came out, that’s the first time I remember watching the NBA and having a favorite team,” James said. “My family is full of Bulls fans because my dad’s from Chicago, so I kind of branched off to Cleveland. [Dad] didn’t like that too much.”

James brings a LeBron-like energy every time he steps on the court, because for him it comes down to effort and enthusiasm.

“Passion,” James said. “I want to be relentless on the glass, and keep fighting to be a two-effort guy or a multiple-effort guy; not just a single-effort guy.”

James’ desire to be effective on both ends of the court has shown up on the stat sheet this season. Not only is he averaging 11.3 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, but he already has six double-doubles, which is the most all-time for a Liberty sophomore. What makes that feat even more impressive is that Liberty still has a quarter of its regular season schedule remaining.

While Flames fans are thrilled about having James for the foreseeable future, they really should be sending thank you letters to his mother, Dr. Christy James, who had already been at Liberty before it was a thought in Scottie’s mind. Christy James is a professor in the Teacher & Graduate Education school at Liberty, and without her Scottie likely would never have donned Liberty’s blue and red.

After his first season at Bradley, James was looking to transfer to a school that provided a better fit for him on the court. While visiting his family in Lynchburg on spring break, his mother brought up the prospect of him becoming a Flame.

“My mom teaches here, and she wanted me to look at Liberty. She got a hold of the coaches, and they wanted to look at me,” James said. “So I got here, met the coaching staff and really liked them.”

The rest, as they say, is history.

Although James does not run into his mother much on campus, he is able to enjoy the benefits of having his mom in close proximity.

“Being close to home is good for home-cooked meals,” James said jokingly.

Besides his mother’s cooking, what struck James most when he got to Liberty were the men he would be going into battle with on the basketball court each night.

“The character of everybody was really high, I felt, right away,” James said. “Most of the time on other teams that I’ve been on, in high school and my other college, I just didn’t feel like a lot of the guys fit together. Even though everyone’s from different backgrounds, everyone just kind of gravitates towards each other.”

James described how one of the things he admired most about Liberty was the brotherhood he formed with the team. The brotherhood is not possible, however, unless there is a respected leader present to create a culture of respect and accountability. According to James, men’s basketball head coach Ritchie McKay is that leader and much more.

“He’s such a great coach, so influential in my life just because he’s not only worked to develop me as a player, but he’s worked to develop me spiritually and as a person,” James said. “The great thing about Liberty is he can come in and, quote unquote, preach to us, like give us a message or sermon, and that really helps me out a lot.”

Spiritual growth is something that is very important to James. In fact, what he loves most about Liberty is that the university has made a commitment to ingraining spirituality in every aspect of a student’s life during their time here.

“When I was at Bradley, with basketball and stuff it was hard to get to church every week,” James said. “I went to an FCA type of thing, which was helpful as well, but here it’s just everywhere, we have convocation, and when coach McKay talks to us, that’s just a huge part of my life.”

Liberty’s next home game is against Winthrop University on Feb. 1 at the Vines Center.

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