Player Bio

Christian James McCollum, the younger son of Kathy Andrews and Errick McCollum, was born in 1991 in Canton, Ohio. McCollum's older brother Errick has played nine seasons of professional basketball overseas - and, as of late 2019, stars in Russia for VTB League club Unics Kazan. McCollum attended Glen Oak High School in Plain Township where he played with former Sacramento King Kosta Koufos. As a four-year journalism major at Lehigh, he is a contributing editor for the Players' Tribune and has written multiple articles for the site. He's also done work for Sports Illustrated for Kids and NBA.com. McCollum has partnered with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Portland Metro to form the CJ McCollum Dream Center Initiative, which aims to create "safe spaces for young people to learn, explore, create, and grow". The first such Center opened in Nov. 2016, outfitted with culturally relevant books and technologies and placing an emphasis on child literacy. McCollum also started CJ's Press Pass, a journalism-based mentorship program which works with 30 students a year, connecting them with professionals in and around the Portland area and giving them mentorship and feedback on their work. You can follow CJ McCollum on Twitter @CJMcCollum and on Instagram @3jmccollum. McCollum enjoyed a prolific four-year career at Lehigh, where he was a three-time First Team All-Patriot League selection. As a freshman in 2009-10, McCollum became the first player in conference history to be named both the Patriot League Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year by averaging 19.1 points, to go with 5.0 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.3 steals per game. As a sophomore, his scoring average jumped to 21.8 points per game - good for first in the conference and 10th in the country. As a junior, McCollum once again claimed top league honors, as he led the conference in scoring at 21.9 PPG and ranked second in rebounding at 6.5 RPG. As the MVP of the Patriot League Tournament, he led Lehigh to the NCAA Tournament and they knocked off Duke in Round 1 thanks to McCollum's 30 points, six rebounds and six assists. His senior season was cut short by a broken foot, which limited him to just 12 appearances. Prior to the injury, McCollum was averaging 23.9 points per game along with 5.0 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.4 steals.