Solving an issue in a construction project is far more similar to breaking a full-court press than you’d think — at least, that’s how Mac Annus sees it.
Whether it’s on-site or on the court, a team works together to achieve a goal. Right now, the 22-year-old Belmont native’s goal is closing his outstanding college basketball career at Roger Williams University. After what he hopes is a long postseason run, he’ll transition to a professional role in construction management.
“Throughout my college career in basketball or in my internships, there’s a lot of overlap that I was kind of surprised with,” Annus said, “and that teamwork and collaboration are really important to success no matter what you’re doing.”
Now a graduate student, the 6-foot-3 guard is having his best collegiate season yet as the Hawks (8-4, 3-2 Conference of New England) look to build off the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance last year.
Roger Williams coach Mike Tully said it’s hard to summarize what Annus means to the program. The 22-year head coach described Annus as being as good a student as he is a player, and as someone who leads by example with an “almost unmatched enthusiasm for basketball.”
“He’s been successful here on the court, but he’s also been extremely successful as a leader,” Tully said. “It’s one thing when your best player is your best player, but when your best player is a great teammate, hard worker and plays consistently all the time, it takes it to a whole different level.”
Annus came into the program a great shooter, but developed into a three-level scorer within the confines of the Hawks offensive system.
“Teams were going to come up and pressure me, not let me shoot,” Annus said. “So how was I going to combat that? Over the last few years, I’ve found ways to get inside a lot more, whether that’s through cutting, driving, or getting out in transition.”
A lifelong Belmont resident who attended Burbank Elementary School, Chenery Middle School, and Belmont High School, Annus joined the Marauders varsity as a sophomore and scored more than 1,100 career points, leading the program to consecutive Middlesex League titles. Both The Boston Globe and Boston Herald honored him as an All-Scholastic.
The Marauders progressively improved throughout Annus’s career, qualifying for the MIAA Tournament Division 2 North semifinals his sophomore year and reaching the Division 2 North finals his last two seasons.
The COVID-19 pandemic cancelled Roger Williams 2020-21 basketball season, Annus freshman year. As an academic sophomore using his first year of eligibility, Annus immediately entered the starting lineup and averaged 13 points per game. Roger Williams bowed out in the first round of the conference postseason tournament.
The following year, Annus increased his scoring average to 15.8 points per game en route to All-Commonwealth Coast Conference (now Conference of New England) Second Team honors. The Hawks fell in the conference tournament quarterfinals. Annus upped his game again last year to 20.2 points per game as part of an all-conference first-team and all-academic team campaign. As Annus improved, so too did the Hawks, who ran the table in the league tournament as an unlikely No. 5 seed and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, the first in program history, where they fell in the first round at Widener.
This winter has been Annus’s best season to date, averaging career-highs across the board through 12 games: 20.4 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game, shooting a blistering 52.6% from the floor, 47.6% from 3-point range and 79.3% from the free-throw line. In the first CNE action this winter, he erupted for a season-best 31 points in a double-digit home win against Wentworth Institute of Technology. Annus hopes to lead Roger Williams back to the league title, NCAA Tournament, and to the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament win.
“Certainly a big goal for myself and the team,” Annus said. “Our expectations are really high: to get to the same spot as last year.”
With an undergraduate degree in construction management and a master’s in business administration on the way, Annus plans to work full-time doing project management at Turner Construction in Boston, where he interned the past three summers. He’s still figuring out where basketball might fit in.
“[Coaching] has been a thought of mine, especially this past year, because I hate the idea of leaving the game,” Annus said. “Maybe I’ll be away from it for a little, but I think I’ll eventually be around basketball in some capacity.”
