Grand Marshal Scott McNeal honored Saturday, 'I would have never dreamed this'
Creator of the Gus Macker basketball tournaments, Scott McNeal said being Grand Marshal was an honor he never dreamed was possible.
McNeal, a 1979 Central Michigan University, participated in Homecoming events and was part of the 2011 Homecoming Parade.
With his deceased father in mind, he said he felt grateful to receive the honor.
“Oh, it’s incredible — it is. I would have never dreamed this,” McNeal said. “My father passed away a few years ago and graduated from here in ’59. He’s looking down on me and going, ‘Oh my gosh, that crazy guy is actually a Grand Marshal.’”
The Gus Macker 3-on-3 basketball tournament was started in 1974 by McNeal and 18 of his friends in Lowell. It has expanded to 75 cities, including annual tournaments on the CMU campus, with more than 200,000 players and 1.7 million spectators.
Assistant vice president for University Recreation, Stan Shingles said he enjoyed seeing McNeal as the Grand Marshal. Shingles, who met McNeal when Gus Macker tournaments were first getting started, said he believes McNeal was a great choice to represent the school.
“I think Scott embodies everything you want in a Grand Marshal,” Shingles said. “His enthusiasm and his love for CMU is what you want to see in every Homecoming Grand Marshal.”
McNeal said he did not know what to expect from the crowd at the Homecoming Parade.
“I was hoping that maybe there would be some crowd-surfing, but I didn’t see any of that," McNeal said. "Other than that, I enjoyed the parade and was excited about it.”
He said he was not sure how to display his emotions while on his float.
“I was more trying to decide the best way — do I jump out and go run and hug people? I didn’t know, so I just kind of screamed at people," McNeal said. "They probably thought I was a little weird."
McNeal succeeds former Grand Marshals like former trustee and Merrill Lynch Senior Vice President John Kulhavi and Amy Roloff, star of “Little People, Big World.”
