Ramblers Two Sport Standout Looks to Play Both Football and Basketball for D3 Profs
CARTERET, NJ—With the outstanding play of Starrell Hearns, some tended to forget about the efforts of Cam McCargo on this year’s Carteret boys basketball team. They shouldn’t though since he put up tremendous numbers for a Ramblers team that did overachieve after losing the likes of Jahlil Nix, Timmy Ellis (Middlesex County College), and Thamir Lamarr to graduation. And by the way, he’s not a bad football player either.
Earlier this week, McCargo announced that he will attend Rowan University in South Jersey next fall. While McCargo is going to play football for the Profs, he also intends to play basketball there as well. Transferring to Carteret a year ago after attending St. John Vianney of Holmdel, McCargo played in 6 of the last 7 football games including the 2018 Thanksgiving Day game versus Perth Amboy, and then was the starting QB for the Ramblers this past season.
In ten games, McCargo completed 71 of 162 passes for 816 yards and 9 touchdowns versus 9 interceptions. He also ran 62 times for 384 yards and 4 more touchdowns. GMC Gridiron got to see McCargo in action for Carteret versus Voorhees of Glen Gardner in Hunterdon County on November 6th, and he completed 12 of 24 passes for 108 yards and a TD passes while rushing 9 times for 42 more yards and another TD in a 20-12 loss to the Vikings in an NJSIAA Regional Crossover game.
During his junior year, he completed 22 of 50 passes for 328 yards and 3 touchdowns while only throwing one interception. In addition, he also rushed 36 times for 98 more yards, and another touchdown. So over his two years with the Ramblers football team, McCargo completed 93 of 212 passes for 1144 yards, and 12 touchdowns while throwing 10 interceptions. He also ran 98 times for 482 yards, and 5 TDs. In 16 games with Carteret, McCargo accounted for 1626 yards and 17 TDs.
Meanwhile, on the basketball court, McCargo also excelled. Playing in 16 games for the Ramblers a year ago, McCargo made 48 field goals and 10 free throws for a total of 106 points while also collecting 120 rebounds, 38 assists, 21 steals, and 8 blocks, or an average of 6.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game. This season, McCargo flourished in a starting role, where he played in all 28 of the Ramblers games this season.
During those 28 games, McCargo made 136 field goals, 10 three pointers, and 44 free throws for a total of 348 points along with 201 rebounds, 96 assists, 44 steals, and 20 blocks, or an average of 12.4 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.6 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game. So, in 44 games over two seasons with Carteret, McCargo made 184 field goals, 10 threes, and 54 foul shots for a total of 454 points along with 321 rebounds, 134 assists, 65 steals, and 28 blocks, or an average of 10.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.5 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game.
Prior to arriving in Carteret, McCargo saw some action for St. John Vianney as a sophomore during the 2017-18 season. For the Lancers, McCargo played in just 3 games, made three field goals and a free throw for 7 points along with 4 assists and 3 steals. In his two years at Carteret, McCargo scored in double figures in 24 games including four games of at least 20 points. He also had six games with double digit rebounds, and five double-doubles including three straight games from January 25th to January 29th this year.
McCargo scored a career high 25 points on 11 field goals and 3 free throws while also collecting 5 rebounds and 2 assists in a 66-63 overtime loss to Plainfield on opening weekend this season. In addition to matching a career high of 10 rebounds six times this season, McCargo had a career high of 8 assists twice during the 2019-20 campaign including a 56-53 victory over Rahway on January 2nd in Carteret, and in a 64-50 win over Carteret at home as well. He first set that career high of 8 dimes as a junior in an 87-56 victory over Sayreville in the 2019 GMCT Round of 16 on February 15th.
The two sport athlete also swiped a career high 5 steals twice: once as a junior versus Bishop Ahr in North Edison on February 1, 2019 in an overtime loss (62-58), and against Union (lost 64-60) in a thrilling two overtime Championship Game of the 2019 Matawan Huskies Holiday Tournament over the Christmas break on December 30, 2019. McCargo also tallied a career high 3 blocks as a junior against South Plainfield on January 25, 2019, and as a senior versus Old Bridge exactly a year two the day later on January 25, 2020.
This past season, the Carteret Ramblers finished 20-8 overall including a mark of 10-2 in the GMC Blue. In addition, the Ramblers defeated Colonia, New Brunswick, North Brunswick, Monroe, Old Bridge, and Woodbridge in crossover games during the regular season. Carteret reached the North Jersey Section 2 Group 3 Quarterfinals and GMCT Quarterfinals for the second straight year, and also reached the Championship Game of the Matawan Huskies Holiday Classic for the first time since joining play there in 2013.
The team actually improved on its win-loss record both overall and in division from the 2018-19 season. A year ago, Carteret finished 17-10 overall including a 9-3 record in divisional play. The Ramblers also had as many crossover wins within the GMC with only victories against Edison, Perth Amboy Tech, Woodbridge, North Brunswick, and Sayreville.
McCargo will be joining a Rowan football program that is one of the top D3 programs in not only New Jersey, but also the nation. The Profs went only 4-6 overall a year ago including a 4-3 mark in the NJAC. The year before, Rowan finished 6-4 overall including a 5-4 mark in conference play. The last time the Profs made the NCAA D3 Tournament was back in 2014 after going 7-4 during the season including a 6-1 mark in the NJAC. Rowan was defeated in the opening round by Johns Hopkins (24-16) of the Centennial Conference in Baltimore.
The Profs reached the NCAA D3 second round back in the 2013 season during a 9-3 campaign that included a 6-1 record in conference play. After defeating Endicott College (24-0) in the opening round, Rowan was defeated by the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (59-8) in Texas. Meanwhile, the men’s basketball team has also enjoyed some success. This past season, the Profs went 15-12 overall including a 10-8 mark in the NJAC, and then lost to Stockton University (96-82) in the NJAC semifinals.
In the 2018-19 season, Rowan University finished 22-7 overall including a 13-5 mark in the NJAC, and went on to win the NJAC Tourney Championship by defeating Montclair State University (95-86) in the semifinals, and then New Jersey City University (80-77) in the Championship. Playing on the Rowan men’s basketball team this past season was former Sayreville standout, and 1,000 point scorer, Ryan O’Leary, who transferred in from Rider, and is finishing up his sophomore year at Rowan.
O’Leary played in 26 games including 19 starts, and averaged 23.4 minutes, 8.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game. He made 75 of 185 field goal attempts including 41 of 115 attempts from long distance, and 24 of 42 from the line. Before O’Leary, the last former GMC standout to play at Rowan was Laud Anderson of North Brunswick during the 2010-11 season.
Congratulations Cam on your accomplishment, and best of luck at the next level.