30 Little Known Facts About C.J. McCollum We Bet You Didn't Know Before

5 June 2019, 4:44 pm EDT By Ruby Karnick

C.J. McCollum, currently playing for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), holds the record for being the all-time leading scorer with a total score of 2361 points in the Patriot League history, a feat he achieved at a very young age. Here are some interesting facts about the American professional basketball player:

He was born Christian James McCollum, on September 19, 1991, in Canton, Ohio, to Kathy and Erick McCollum I. He has an older brother, Erick McCollum II, who is also professional basketball player.
McCollum attended GlenOak High School and after graduation he joined Lehigh University. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Journalism in May 20, 2013.
In July 2017, he returned to his alma mater to inspire teens in the LEAD Program to follow their dreams. He spoke to the students about what it was like for him growing up and being told that his goals were unrealistic. The harder I’ve worked, the luckier I’ve got, both on the court and off the court.
He was 4’8’’ in his eighth grade and dreamed of making it to the NBA, even though he was too short to achieve his goals. He had grown to 5’2’’ and weighed 107 pounds by start of high school and was listed at 6’3’’ when he came to Lehigh in 2009 and made an instant impact.
McCollum graduated from Golden Eagles as the leading scorer with 1405 career points and was named the Gatorade Ohio Player of the Year for the 2008-09, season. He has a score of 54 points as a junior for school’s single game scoring record.
As a freshman with Lehigh, he averaged 19.1 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. He was the first freshman to be named conference Player of the Year, in Patriot League history.
His further improved his performance in his sophomore year as he averaged 21.8 points with 7.8 rebounds, though Mountain Hawk’s record slipped. He made it to the first team All-Conference.
As a junior, with Lehigh winning the 2012 Patriot League’s Men’s Basketball Tournament, McCollum was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. He also earned his third straight first team all-conference designation.
Although he was considered a top NBA draft prospect, he along with his family felt another year in college will be more beneficial to him on and off court. His senior season was ended prematurely with a leg injury. He was 2012-13, Senior CLASS Award finalist.
He ended his collegiate career as Patriot League’s all-time leading scorer with 2,361 career points apart from winning Rookie off the Year and a two-time Patriot League Player of the Year,

McCollum has put his journalism degree to work as he actively contributes to the ‘The Players Tribune,’ a website that gives athletes a platform to share experience and opinions. He also launched a program called ‘CJ’s Press Pass,’ for high school students to cover the NBA as a reporter.
On June 27, 2013, the Portland Trail Blazers selected C.J. McCollum ’13 with the 10th pick in the NBA Draft, making McCollum the first Lehigh player and second Patriot League player to ever have his name called on draft night.
Returning from injury he was assigned to the Idaho Stampede, the team’s NBA Development League affiliate. He made his NBA debut on January 8, 2014, against Orlando Magic and scored 4 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 steals in 110-94 win.
In October 2014, Blazer exercised its third-year team option on McCollum’s rookie scale contract through 2015-16, season. In his rookie season he averaged 5.3 points, 1.3 rebounds, 0.7 assists, in 12.5 minutes of play time in 38 games.
Moving over as point guard against Sacramento Kings, on December 27, 2015, he recorded 35 points, 11 rebounds, and 9 assists in a 98-94 win. In the previous 29 years no Blazers players have recorded near triple double.
He ended the 2015-16 season averaging 20.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 1.2 steals in 34.8 minutes of play time in 80 games.
McCollum and Damian Lillard are the first backcourt in Blazers’ history to averages 20 or more points apiece in a season. Apart from McCollum’s 20.8, Lillard averaged 25.1 points. He earned NBA Most Improved Player honors for the season.
On July 27, 2016, McCollum signed a four-year contract extension through the 2020-21, season with Trail Blazers, worth $106 million total.
On November 6, 2016, he tied his career high 37 points, 16 in the fourth quarter, to help the Blazer beat the Grizzlies 100-94.
McCollum scored 33 points, and hit a career high tying six three-pointers in ten attempts in a 129-109 win over Nets, on November 20, 2016. He also had 4 rebounds and 5 assist to show.

On January 1, 2017, McCollum scored a career high 43 points to carry the Blazers to a 95-89 victory. He also registered 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals in the game.
On April 16, 2017, McCollum and Lillard put on a dazzling display of shot-making in Game-1 of playoff first-round series. He scored career best 41 points to become the eighth Blazers player with a 40 plus playoff performance.
He ended the 2016-17 season averaging 23 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 0.9 steals with 35 minutes play time in 80 games. During the season he recorded career high 41 points and seven 3-pointers.
In the beginning of 2017-18, season McCollum received one game suspension for leaving the bench area during a tussle involving the Suns’ Alex Len and Caleb Swanigan in a pre-season game, which cost him $165,000.
On January 31, 2018, McCollum scored a franchise record 28 points in the first quarter before finishing with a career-high 50 points in the Blazers 124-108 victory. He had the inspiration from his 92-year old great aunt who was visiting Portland for the first time.
He averaged 21.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.0 steals with 36.1 minutes of play time in 81 games during 2017-18, season.
In the game against Mavericks on December 23, 2018, with a 3-pointer in the first half, McCollum moved past Damon Stoudamire into fifth on Blazers career list or three pointer with 717. He moved past 751 three pointers a month later.
On January 26, 2019, he scored his first career triple-double with 28 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists in a 120-111 win over the Atlanta Hawks.
In 2016, he opened C.J. McCollum Dream Centre, which is an innovative learning room outfitted with new computer, books, art, and learning tools at the Blazers Boys & Girls club.
McCollum has never been married however he has been dating his longtime girlfriend Elise Esposito, a Behavioral Neuroscience graduate of Lehigh University. She works as a dental assistant.