HARTFORD, Conn. — Cliff Rees, the former head basketball coach at Boys Latin School of Maryland, has had several former players go on to play in college, but none like Cam Spencer.
Originally an Indiana guy and a fan of the Big Ten, Rees was thrilled when Spencer decided to transfer from Loyola (Md.) to Rutgers. Those games were appointment television. After Rees retired from coaching in 2021, Spencer was the first player he ever worked his schedule around. He didn’t want to have to record his games and watch them later.
“I want to watch it live, to make sure I caught those games because I love watching the kid play,” Rees told The Hartford Courant. “I just love watching him play. I loved watching him in high school, and I’ve loved watching him in college.”
Rees watched just about every one of Rutgers’ games last season, one way or another.
He was sitting on the couch Jan. 2, when Spencer caught the ball at the top of the key in Purdue’s Mackey Arena, down two with 16.1 seconds left to the unbeaten, consensus No. 1 team in the nation.
Spencer sent his defender flying with a shot fake and stepped to his left, pulling from deep as Purdue’s second defender Brandon Newman lunged forward to recover and do what he could to contest the shot. It was too late, Spencer’s shot was perfectly on line, he started trotting back on defense before the eventual game-winner fell through the net.
With Spencer already out of the Big Ten Network’s camera view Newman’s shoulder’s dropped, his arms hanging to the floor, dejected and perplexed. At the same time, Rees reached for his phone and called Jimmy Morris, his former assistant who since moved to California, knowing he was watching and thinking the same thing.
“ ‘Our boy did it again, man,' ” Rees said to Morris, “ ‘he’s unbelievable.' ”
Absent of ego
Rees coached Spencer and both of his brothers, Pat and Will, and became very close with the family.
Last week, a day or so after Cam decided he would transfer to UConn for his graduate year, Rees spent some time chatting with him and his family at a memorial service for Spencer’s grandmother, who attended “just about every darn high school game and as many college games as she could.”
It was bittersweet, and the excitement of his next step helped ease some of the pain.
“The Spencer family is the most special family I’ve ever met,” Rees said. After every high school game, as his teammates went into the locker room ‘yakking it up,’ the first thing Spencer did was make a beeline to embrace his parents and both sets of his grandparents.
“It wasn’t out of a sense of obligation,” Rees said. “He did it because that’s who he wanted to go see and talk to.”
The Spencer family is loaded with athletes, but absent of ego.
The oldest, Pat, was one of the best lacrosse players in the country. He attended Loyola (Md.) and by the time his career was over, the program’s website featured a hefty paragraph listing his accomplishments for each of his four years. The senior year summary states that he “wrapped up the most-decorated career of any student-athlete at Loyola in the school’s history.”
When he graduated, Pat Spencer was the NCAA Division I lacrosse all-time leader in assists (he still is) and was second in all-time points. Then, he went back to his other love and played a season of basketball at Northwestern, averaging 10.4 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game before the season was cut short by COVID. He signed with the G League Capital City Go-Go (Washington Wizards affiliate) in 2021 and then signed an exhibit 10 contract with the Golden State Warriors, eventually joining their G League affiliate in Santa Cruz.
Rees first saw Cam play shortly after watching Pat, realizing immediately that the brothers were good, intelligent players. Rees had Cam play junior varsity his freshman year and tabbed him as his first option off the bench as a sophomore, because there were some seniors who’d earned their time.
“But we figured out pretty quickly, crunch time, intense time, we’ve got to have Cam in the game,” Rees said.
By the time his senior year came, with Pat helping out as an assistant while still playing lacrosse at Loyola, Spencer led Boys Latin to a 30-5 record and ended up finishing second behind Ace Baldwin, a recent Penn State transfer, for Player of the Year in Baltimore.
“My assistant coach, we were pretty close, and there’s just no two bigger lovers of Cam Spencer than us, but we would just be amazed at the kid that we’re sitting there shooting the bull with before practice and laughing and joking,” Rees said, “but as soon as that whistle blows and he gets on the court, he’s just a freaking killer. He wants to win.”
Missing the boat
There is no black-and-white answer for how Spencer, one of the most coveted guards in the transfer portal, was overlooked.
His own Division I offers to play lacrosse came rolling in, but Spencer had already identified basketball as his passion. He didn’t have a recruiting profile with any stars on ESPN or 247Sports, so he made his own page on Next College Student Athlete.
His page on the NCSA site includes a couple video highlights, his measurables and a letter to coaches:
“I have D1 offers to play lacrosse, but want to follow my passion for basketball. People tell me I have strong leadership skills, a high IQ and am fierce on the court. My coach says a video will not do my game justice because of all the little things I do,” it read, in part. “I would love to have someone on your staff attend a game or two. If there is anything I can do to help convince you to give me a chance, please let me know.”
Five years later, Spencer would be hearing from the likes of Dan Hurley, fresh off a national championship, John Calipari, Mike Woodson, Georgetown, Miami and Texas after entering the transfer portal on May 19, but back then he was pleading for anyone, from any staff, just to give him a chance.
“I would get so frustrated his junior year because I literally reached out to 100 schools, sending them notes, sending them film, saying, ‘Coach, you’ve got to look at this kid. You’ll want him on your roster. He’d help you win games,”‘ Rees recalled. “And just no interest whatsoever.”
The summer after his junior year was the first Spencer played with a ‘really good’ AAU program and he had a good summer, but even after that the only offer he had was from Loyola, where his brother was a star. Going into the fall of his senior year, Rees was still reaching out to schools, saying " 'You’re missing the boat, this is a kid you need.' "
Still nothing.
Loyola hired a new coach, Tavaras Hardy, who was excited about Spencer and offered him right away. Spencer signed early.
“In fairness to the coaches, look, I mean what he was, even as a senior in high school, isn’t what he is now. His development and the things that Coach Hardy did for him at Loyola made him that much better. Now it wasn’t all Coach Hardy, it was a whole lot of Cam because he’s special,” Rees said. “My assistant coach and I, we would just sit there in awe of the things he would do and the work he would put in, the plays he would make despite – you look at him and say, ‘Well, he’s not the most athletic kid in the world,’ but then he goes out and has 30 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and four steals and you’re like, ‘How did he do that against one of the best teams in Baltimore?’
“I think everybody kind of underestimates him — you look at him and you say wait a minute, this kid’s a basketball player? He should be on a surfboard in California, not on a basketball court.”
He wouldn’t be the first California surfer-type UConn acquired in the portal. (Who could forget Joey Calcaterra?)
Playing for the madman
When Rees was chatting with the Spencer family at the memorial he asked: “ ‘Well, how’s Coach Hurley?' ”
The answer was something to the tune of: “ ‘He’s a madman, just like you. I’m so ready for this.' ”
“I was a bit of a nut, I have to admit,” Rees said. “But I think the intensity, that just jives with what Cam thrives on.
“A lot of times when he was playing in high school with kids that aren’t as into it as he is, he doesn’t get it. How can you not come out here and just have the intensity and the love that he had for this game? And I was the same way. So we were two just intense nut jobs together, it was fun.”
Rees received a call from one of the UConn assistants the day Spencer, 6-feet-4, 207 pounds, entered the transfer portal. At that point it wasn’t a surprise — in his only season at Rutgers, Spencer tied as the leading scorer with 13.2 points per game, he shot 43.4% from 3 and added 3.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists and two steals per game. He was going to be sought after.
But Rees didn’t want to influence the decision. He didn’t want to talk to Spencer or his father, Bruce, so he went to Pat and shared the news.
It ultimately came down to Spencer wanting to reach the highest level he is capable of. At Rutgers he set himself up to have his pick — what set UConn apart was the “madman” he would be playing for.
“In high school and his three years at Loyola I think everybody saw this kid can shoot the ball. Some people started to see he’s more than just a shooter, but I think that year at Rutgers was eye-opening for everybody to see, ‘Wait a minute, there’s more to this kid than a kid that’s gonna stand out there and knock down threes all day,' ” Rees said.
“So I’m not surprised. I think it’s a lot of people seeing the same stuff Jimmy and I got to see for three years of him playing varsity basketball for us when we would just sit there in amazement like, ‘How does this kid do it? He’s not fast enough. He doesn’t jump high enough. How’s he doing this?’ You know? And he would just do it day in and day out.”
