Fletcher Magee became a March Madness hero on Thursday night, hitting seven three-pointers to help the Wofford Terriers knock out Seton Hall, 84-68, in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. Casual fans just tuning for March may have been startled by Magee’s incredible long-range shooting ability, but nothing about his performance was out of the ordinary. Magee has been doing this for four years.
Fletcher Magee went from an unranked recruit to March Madness three-point god
The Wofford senior has left his mark all over the college basketball record books.
Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Magee broke the DI record for three-point makes in a career during this game, a mark that now stands at 509 and counting. With a game against Kentucky on Saturday and a Sweet 16 bid on the line, Magee has another chance to pad his stats and further enhance his legend.
He is the driving force behind a Wofford team that has been laying waste to opponents all season. The Terriers earned a No. 7 seed in this tournament by going undefeated in the Southern Conference and winning the conference tournament. Their resume was unassailable by any standard, entering the tournament at No. 21 overall on KenPom, No. 14 in the NET rankings, and at No. 19 in the final AP Poll.
Get on the Fletcher Magee bandwagon now while there’s still time. This is how he became the three-point king of college basketball.
Magee was unranked as a recruit despite playing with Ben Simmons in “AAU”
Magee is from Orlando, Florida and graduated from The First Academy in the class of 2015. He spent his summers playing with Each 1 Teach 1 on Nike’s EYBL circuit for a team that also included Ben Simmons and Antonio Blakeney.
Magee was far from an AAU star, though: he was considered an unranked recruit by ESPN, Rivals, and 247 Sports. Still, Magee was proficient enough as a shooter to draw offers from Kansas State, UCF, St. Joseph’s, and plenty of top mid-majors. Ultimately, he chose Wofford, committing in Sept. 2014.
Where is Wofford?
Wofford is in Spartanburg, South Carolina, hometown of Duke super freshman Zion Williamson. Its total enrollment is just under 1,700. Thanks for asking.
Magee was immediately productive for Wofford
Magee made his way into Wofford’s starting lineup 10 games into his freshman year and never looked back. He was named Southern Conference Freshman of the Year by averaging 13.8 points per game off the strength of 48 percent three-point shooting on nearly six attempts per game. Wofford, meanwhile, was just starting to rebuild coming off back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances and finished the season 15-17 overall.
As a sophomore, Magee bumped his scoring average up to 18.6 points per game and was named first-team all-conference. He was again tremendous as a shooter, making 42.3 percent of the eight threes he attempted per game.
Magee’s legend grew as a junior with two big upsets
Magee started to gain national attention last season as a junior when he powered Wofford to an upset win over Georgia Tech in December. All Magee did in that game was finish with 36 points by making 8-of-14 threes, including a ridiculous game-winner.
Two weeks later, Wofford stunned North Carolina, with Magee going off for 27 points.
Magee ended his junior year with 148 made threes, the fifth most a college player has ever had in a single season. He was named Southern Conference Player of the Year by averaging 22.1 points on 44 percent shooting from three on 10 attempts per game.
Wofford was better — finishing 21-13 overall — but still missed the NCAA tournament.
Please, just watch a Fletcher Magee three-point mixtape
This is what Magee has been doing as a senior, before becoming a March Madness hero.
Magee is tearing it up again as a senior
Magee was named Southern Conference Player of the Year again, this time averaging 20.5 points per game on 42.8 percent shooting from three on 10.7 attempts per game. Wofford has been excellent all season, entering the tournament at 29-4 with their only losses coming to high-major teams.
Wofford earned the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament by winning the SoCo tournament, but they would have received an at-large bid even if they didn’t.
Magee lit up Seton Hall and made history in the NCAA tournament
The Terriers were favored by 2.5 points heading into the game against a quality Big East team in Seton Hall, which is a testament to their brilliant season. Magee entered the game needing three three-pointers to break the DI record for makes in a career set by Oakland’s Travis Bader. He did so much more than that:
Magee faces Kentucky next. He can make more history.
Kentucky played without star forward P.J. Washington on Thursday, who has a sprained foot. If Washington can’t go again in round two, Wofford has a real chance to pull the upset.
Magee can make more history if Wofford’s run continues: he’s only 11 made threes away from Steph Curry’s single-season record. He should get there if the Terriers shock Kentucky.
Magee already has two of the best three-point shooting seasons ever. He already holds the DI record for made threes in a career. Now he gets a shot at Kentucky and a chance to continue Wofford’s sterling season.
Fletcher Magee didn’t come out of nowhere: he’s been college basketball’s deadliest shooter for years. He’s not done yet.
See More:
