14 News, The Tri-State's News and Weather Leader-McFarland stays positive as he prepares for his new team

McFarland stays positive as he prepares for his new team

By Joe Danneman - bio | email
Posted by Nicole Hamilton - email

EVANSVILLE, IN (WFIE) - Cardell McFarland almost won a basketball championship at Bosse High School.

He says that's now his thing. He wants nothing but a ring.

McFarland is going to the right place.  Kentucky Wesleyan is one of Division II's most successful programs.

It's also his place to start over. It's his second chance with his first love.

"This is my home," he said of working out at Bosse.  "This is where it all started for me."

Maybe it's the hours in this gym but McFarland seemingly almost never misses a shot at Bosse.

This is where he learned his jump shot and learned his go-to move.

"So you think I'm going to shoot the three also, but I'm going to jab and just crossover," explains McFarland.

He says basketball changed his life.

McFarland was so successful at Bosse that he got a scholarship to Division I Missouri State.

But he lost the basketball-- and his reputation-- when he was arrested in his home town.

"I'm just trying to put in the past and just block all the negative out.  Just try to stay positive.  So I really ain't thinking about Missouri State right now or what happened in the past.  It's in the past and I'm just trying to move forward."

Police dropped charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest but Missouri State still dropped his scholarship.

"Yeah, I think this could be even better. I think I'm in a better situation than I was," said McFarland. 

His new situation is with a new team. McFarland gets what he calls his second chance at Kentucky Wesleyan.

"My thing, right now, is me winning, so I feel like we've got a good chance of winning and competing for a national championship, so I think that's pretty much what sold me to go down there."

At his old gym, Cardell still wears his old college shorts.

He says it's easier to move on because he's moving on to a new college and a new scholarship thanks to a game he says changed his life.

"I love this thing," McFarland said. "This is my girlfriend. This is my wife. It's everything. It's my ticket."

He can play two years for sure at KWC and possibly could get a third year.  That will be determined by the NCAA.

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