Athletes - Jason McElwain

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	Athletes - Jason McElwain

Jason McElwain (born October 1, 1987), known as J-Mac by his friends, is an autistic high school student scheduled to graduate from Greece Athena High School in Rochester, New York in 2006. He is noted for scoring twenty points in four minutes in a high school basketball game on February 16, 2006. The game was the last home game of the 2005-2006 season for Greece Athena.

At the beginning of the season, McElwain never made the varsity team because of his size, but his love and passion for basketball led him to stay with the team as their manager. Proud of his dedication, coach Jim Johnson felt that it would be appropriate to put him in the final home game of the 2005-06 season if the team was ahead by several points. When Greece Athena was ahead by several points late in the game against Spencerport High School, the coach put McElwain in the game which elicited a deafening cheer from the crowd. McElwain's first three-point attempt was an airball; followed by a missed layup. However, McElwain then scored six three-pointers, his last one the final shot of the game. As the game ended, the crowd stormed the court and swarmed around him, as his teammates lifted him up onto their shoulders.

McElwain's achievement was immediately noticed locally and was a popular story in local media the next day. A few days after the game, media outlets beyond the local area began taking notice, and the story has spread quickly since then. McElwain, Johnson, and others have received continual interview requests and numerous requests for development rights to the story.

The team experienced this media attention as the regular season ended and they prepared for the postseason, but McElwain continued to encourage them with his mantra: "Stay Focused". Greece Athena ended up winning the Class AA championship for Section V (the Rochester area), but lost the qualifying game against Class AAA Fairport High School to move into the state tournament.

McElwain also met with President George W. Bush on March 14, 2006 when the President came to Canandaigua, New York. McElwain greeted President Bush off Air Force One at the Rochester airport, and the two spoke with each other and with the media for a short time. President Bush commented that he wept when he saw Jason's performance and then he gave him a bookmark and a presidential tie clip. When parting ways McElwain said to the President, "It was an honor to meet you." whereupon the President responded, "No, my honor.".

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Athletes - Jason McElwain

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