Cameron Christie continues to emerge into DI prospect at Rolling Meadows
ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill. (BVM) – Most basketball fans in Illinois, and now East Lansing, Michigan, know the name Max Christie. A five-star talent out of Rolling Meadows, Christie went on to have a strong freshman season at Michigan State.
However, his younger brother, Cameron, is beginning to make his own headlines back home at Rolling Meadows High School.
Cameron and Max grew up together in the sport, following the lead of their parents who are also both former players.
“We’ve always been a basketball family,” Cameron said. “I just took a liking to it and decided I wanted to take it seriously.”
Often, the boys would travel to Evanston to watch the Northwestern Wildcats. Their mom, Katrina Hannaford, now known as Katrina Christie, was a talented 1,000-point scorer for the Wildcats in the 1990s.
Meanwhile, their father, Max Christie Sr., was also a former collegiate player at the University of Wisconsin-Superior. Having two parents to help teach the game over the years has meant a lot, especially for Cameron.
“It’s definitely been helpful to have parents that understand the game and can help me out whenever I need it,” Cameron said. “I know I can always trust them to make the best decisions for me and help me out whenever I need assistance. It’s super cool to be able to have a whole basketball family.”
But of course, Cameron has also been able to take plenty away from his older brother whether during their youth or their two years playing together at Rolling Meadows.
“It was definitely a lot of fun to be able to play with him in high school,” Cameron said. “Just to always have someone to talk to about the sport, he helped me along the way a lot. Not a lot of people get to play with their siblings in high school. He’s been a big help in my journey.”
While having an older brother to show you the ropes is a blessing, it can sometimes also be seen as a curse with having to live up to expectations of the family name. While that pressure did exist initially for Cameron, it has disappeared as he has continued to prove what he can do on the court.
“In the beginning, there definitely was a little bit of pressure,” Cameron said. “But as time went on and as I started to form into my own person, now I don’t feel any pressure at all. I just try to be my own person and I’m confident in who I am. I just want to pave my own path and keep being the best version of myself.”
A strong shooter, ball-handler and decision-maker, Cameron continues to develop all the tools he needs to follow his mom and brother as a Division I basketball player. He began realizing his dream to do that around sixth grade, and beginning to play AAU basketball with the Illinois Wolves shortly after – who he still plays with today – has only gotten him closer to his goal.
“It’s been a ton of fun,” Cameron said about his time with the Wolves. “They’ve helped me tremendously. Each day I go to one of the practices every year, I get better every single time. They have tremendous culture and great coaches. I’m really thankful for everything they’ve done and I’m looking forward to playing with them this year and getting better every single day.”
Cameron has not only emerged into a strong talent on the AAU circuit, but also at the high school level. While it took him some time to get used to playing at Rolling Meadows, Cameron still had a solid freshman season, averaging around 10 points per contest.
“Freshman year was a big jump,” Cameron admitted. “Going from playing people your age to then going to play 17 year olds … It definitely took me a while to get used to it but it was a ton of fun and we had a really special season that year.”
As he began to grow from a skinny 6-foot player to a more defined 6-foot-3 frame, Cameron’s game continued to evolve, averaging around 14 points as a sophomore. It was unfortunately a Covid-shortened season last winter, but the Mustangs made the best of it, going undefeated and winning their conference.
“We were definitely disappointed that we weren’t going to have a full season,” Cameron said. “But when we learned we were going to have just 15 games or whatever it was, we were super excited and wanted to make the most of it. Just being able to play one more time with the same team … It was really fun and I wouldn’t change anything about it.”
As Max graduated and headed off to East Lansing, Cameron finally had his chance to fully lead the team in his junior season.
“I wanted to step up as a player and a leader and just make sure that I led my team to be the best that they could,” Cameron said. “Stepping into being the main leader of the team, it took a while, but I think as the season went on I got into it pretty well.”
He impressed throughout the year, beginning with a 33-point effort in the Mustangs’ season opener. The junior ended the season with averages of 22 points, four rebounds and three assists, and also shot the ball incredibly well as he was 53% from inside the arch, 42% on threes and 93% from the free-throw line. His efforts helped the Mustangs to another first-place finish in their conference and the program’s first regional title in 21 years.
“We were pretty happy with the way that we finished our season,” Cameron said. “It was an overall very successful season and I thought that I performed really well.”
The play of the three-star recruit has more and more colleges taking notice. Cameron already received offers from Ohio State and Michigan State early in his high school career, but has since added additional Big Ten offers from the likes of Iowa and Minnesota, and has received interest from other local programs like Iowa State and DePaul.
He remains undecided for now, and Cameron doesn’t want to rush the process, rather making a final decision once he knows the time is right. However, it could very well end up being that his decision leads him to the Big Ten, or perhaps even on the same team as his brother at Michigan State.
“It’d be pretty cool,” Christie said. “I’m definitely blessed to have multiple options to choose from. Whether that means going to Michigan State and maybe playing with him, that’d be cool. But at the end of the day, I’m going to do what’s best for me, so if that means going to another school then I’ll do that. But it definitely would be super cool to play with him again in the future.”
With the trajectory both Cameron and Max are currently on, there is a potential they become the next pair of siblings in the NBA someday. For the younger Christie, that remains the ultimate goal.
“I think I have the ability to play in the NBA as long as I keep working hard everyday, stay humble and just keep my head down,” Cameron said. “That would be the end goal, to be able to play in the NBA at some point.”
However, college will come first. With plenty of options in front of him, Cameron is prepared to make an impact on whichever program he ends up at.
“Whatever school I go to, I want to make an immediate impact on that team and just make sure that we win as many games as possible,” he added. “Just preferably changing the culture to whatever school I go to.”
Cameron recently got a taste of March Madness as he watched Max and the Spartans take on Davidson and later Duke in this year’s NCAA Tournament, further motivating him to get to that point himself one day.
“I went to watch both of his games in person and it was a lot of fun to watch him on the big stage in the tournament,” Cameron said. “I just want to make sure I keep working to set myself up to be on that same stage as well in a few years.”
Cameron seems poised to follow in Max’s footsteps sooner than later. But for right now, it’s about living in the moment. Big things are in store, but finishing his career on a high note next season at Rolling Meadows is priority No. 1.
“We want to make sure we win every single holiday tournament that we’re in, we want to go down even further in state and really just be the most successful basketball team that there ever was at Rolling Meadows,” Cameron said.
