Sam Mack
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Sam Mack (born May 26, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player. The 6'7" shooting guard from Dolton, Illinois played with five different NBA teams over a 10-year span and has had a 20-year international basketball career.
After starring at Thornridge High School, Mack signed with Iowa State, where he started and averaged 11.8 points as a freshman for a Cyclones team that would make the 1989 NCAA tournament before losing to UCLA. Mack was arrested and charged with armed robbery in Ames, Iowa in March 1989 when he participated in a holdup at a Burger King. Mack was shot in the foot and hip as he tried to flee police. He was later acquitted when a jury decided that Iowa State football player Levin White, a transfer from USC, had forced him at gunpoint to be his accomplice. Cyclone coach Johnny Orr did not renew Mack's basketball scholarship and he transferred to Arizona State as one of coach Bill Frieder's first recruits.
In November 1989, he was suspended from the ASU team during his redshirt season after being investigated in connection with a sexual assault. No charges were filed after the Maricopa County attorney's office found insufficient evidence to pursue a woman's claim that Mack raped her in a university dormitory. in March 1990 Mack and a former Arizona State football player, Fedel Underwood, were arrested and charged with credit card fraud after trying to buy jewelry with a stolen card. Frieder dismissed Mack from the team before he ever played in a game for the Sun Devils.[1]
After Mack's dismissal from ASU, assistant George McQuarn recommended him to Roy Thomas, the coach at Tyler Junior College. Finally with Thomas, a noted disciplinarian, and in relative obscurity in East Texas Mack was a good fit. He averaged 24.6 points and 8.7 rebounds for the Apaches in '90-'91, hitting 62% from the field and 42% from three-point range. More importantly, after two years marked by serious run-ins with the law, Mack stayed out of trouble and was recommended to Houston coach Pat Foster. Because of Mack's checkered past, Foster had Mack vetted by both the UH athletic director and university president, who both interviewed Mack and gave their approval.[1]
Mack's final collegiate season was a huge success, as he averaged 17.5 points in 31 games for the Cougars 1991-92 and, along with Bo Outlaw, led them to a 25–6 record and an NCAA Tournament appearance. For his efforts, Mack was named the SWC Newcomer of the Year.