GARY | If Damion McGee had a nickel for every time he's heard the same sentence, he would have enough gas money to drive to tonight's Indiana All-Star game at Marion.

McGee, a 6-foot-7 junior at Lew Wallace, will be playing with the Indiana Junior All-Stars. It marks the first time a Hornet has been a part of the Indiana All-Star experience since Jerome Harmon in 1986.

"People who were here back then tell me I remind them of him," McGee said at Lew Wallace last Thursday. "I hear that's a great honor. He played at Louisville. He was a great player."

The phrase "great player" wouldn't have been used about McGee that long ago. He didn't play organized basketball until the eighth grade, with a few moments of success and even more of sincere struggles.

When Renaldo Thomas took over the Hornets' basketball program, he started McGee as a freshman. That didn't go over too well with the older players. McGee strongly considered quitting the game.

But his grandmother, Cressie McGee, wouldn't allow it. The woman who mostly raised McGee from infancy told him to keep fighting and working toward something greater, like tonight's game.

"She will be in my mind, in my heart, when I take the floor," McGee said. "She means the world to me."

On Dec. 30, Cressie passed away while in the bathroom inside the family home.

Damion had to crawl through the window to try to give some aid. It was too late.

"My mind was going crazy," he said. "I didn't know what to do. I miss her a lot. I've dedicated my game to her memory. If it wasn't for her I wouldn't even be playing anymore."

McGee's numbers have continued to climb from that rocky, ninth-grade start. He averaged six points and four rebounds his freshman year. As a sophomore, he scored 10 points a game, grabbed 8.8 rebounds and had 2.8 blocks a game.

Last winter, his breakout campaign, McGee averaged 17.9 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.0 blocks and 2.0 steals a game.

"I saw him dunking in a game in eighth grade and I knew we had something special," Thomas said. "He's allowed me to coach him and teach him. He's learning the nuances of the game.

"He's been under the radar so far, but making this team proves that he's not anymore. Like our program, he's rising up."

McGee received a letter from Valparaiso University as a freshman. He's heard from Western Michigan, Ball State and Indiana State, to name a few of many. McGee said if he keeps working on his fundamentals and improves his basketball IQ, then he will earn comparisons to Harmon.

Until then?

"I've got to get better," McGee said. "I've got some ability but I've got a long way to go. I want to play hard (at Marion) and I want to represent my school and our area well. If I play well maybe a lot more schools will start looking at me.

"And most importantly I want to make my grandma proud. That's what this is all about."