“I hate it,” he said. “I don’t understand why people do it. I think it shows weakness. I get there’s a science behind trash talking for people who are good at it, it’s just not me. I try to be a nice kid at all times, but sports are different.

“Don’t get me wrong, if someone’s talking to me, I’m not just going to let it go by, but I won’t start it.”

McIntyre would rather just show you what he’s got.

“Everybody can talk,” he said.

McIntyre’s been proving himself over and over for years.

College coaches aren’t beating down the door of a 5-foot-8 point guard.

But his AAU coach Sam Allen, who played for Eddie Martin at Brookwood and set records at Reinhardt, knows just what a find McIntyre would be for someone willing to look at more than height.

“He’s being overlooked currently and he’s going to be overlooked by college coaches because of his size,” said Allen, who was an assistant in the college ranks for eight years before founding Blue Collar Basketball. “Now, if being small is a problem, then we don’t need to keep talking, but if you want a basketball player, you won’t find a better shooter in the state of Georgia.”

“Look, any college coach’s job is to win games,” Allen said. “But sometimes coaches fall in love with the measureables and what gets overlooked are the intangibles. Those are what Blake brings to the table. It’s going to take a program that appreciates those kind of things.”

McIntyre and his family are deeply connected to Gwinnett County and the sports community here. His dad, Scott, is a Brookwood High grad who played on Georgia Tech’s 1994 national runner-up baseball team. His grandfather, Tony, is president of Buford-based All-American Specialties. His mom, Kari, was the assistant principal at Mill Creek before taking the same job at Buford High School.

But two years ago, McIntyre transferred from Mill Creek to Lakeview Academy in Gainesville. He did it knowing it meant sitting out his sophomore season. He did it knowing that moving from the biggest school in the state to one of the smallest might affect his basketball profile.

“That was about the only thing I thought about for two weeks,” McIntyre said. “I love everything about Mill Creek. I still miss the school. It was tough to leave, but I just felt like for me, personally, it would be a better fit.”

Lakeview head coach Todd Cottrell talks often about how important the fit is.

“Especially for college, but also in high school, where you think you’re going to grow and develop into the best man you can be,” McIntyre said.

He wasn’t sitting at practice, though. Cottrell used McIntyre to run his own offense ragged.

“Oh, yeah, I played a lot of defense,” McIntyre said with a chuckle. “For a year straight. But I actually enjoy it because I think I’m undervalued there, too.”

Cottrell had McIntyre practicing twice a day as a sophomore, once with the JV and then with the varsity.

“He’s a fantastic young man,” Cottrell said. “He’s so fun to coach. He’s one of the most positive people I’ve been around. He works hard and he’s got that infectious personality. He’s brought a lot to our team and our school.”

Those workouts torched any bit of baby fat from the now whipcord lean McIntyre.

“People used to lie to me,” McIntyre said, grinning. “I’d ask my parents, ‘Am I chunky?’ They’d say, ‘No, you’re fine.’ I look at pictures and I was! Y’all lied to me. All of a sudden, I hit puberty and got really skinny playing basketball.

“They were trying to be nice. It’s OK.”

When McIntyre came to Allen for training as a seventh-grader, there was work to do.

“Blake has improved as much as any player I’ve worked with in 15 years of coaching,” Allen said. “It’s a credit to his love of the game and his strong work ethic.

“When we first started working with him, he was short and pudgy. The speed of the game would swallow him up sometimes, but not now. He’s improved his quickness and he’s in incredible shape. It helps when he goes against bigger, stronger players.

“He’s really developed the ability to compete — the most undervalued skill. Some people think competing is hitting a few buckets and talking trash. To me, that’s fake competitiveness. I’ve seen Blake, guys start talking and he just quietly goes about his game.”

During a long stretch this spring with BCB, Allen watched McIntyre hit no fewer than five 3-pointers each game.

“It was 10 or 12 games I think I averaged 15 or 18 points,” McIntyre said. “I didn’t score like this last year. I really started getting focused with my training and that hard work kind of showed up this year.”

During the streak, Allen tweeted that college coaches should take note. McIntyre laughed at the memory because, of course, the next game, he went 0-for behind the arc.

“After that, I was right back at it though,” he said.

McIntyre started training with Allen before BCB even put together an AAU team.

“From a skill standpoint, he’s worked so hard,” Allen said. “He’s as good of a leader and communicator as you’ll find.”

It wasn’t until he connected with Allen that McIntyre realized how good he could be.

“I started to see I could become an elite shooter,” McIntyre said.

One thing Allen would like to see him polish now is his mid-range game and finishing at the rim.

“You definitely have to pick your spots if you’re little,” McIntyre said. “If you see a crease, you better go, because some big dude wants to send your stuff into the third row.

“Being my size, I have to be able to score the basketball. I’ve also got to be a floor general and be that consummate point guard, the team leader that everyone can look to, that calming presence. A lot of times in high school basketball, things get hectic and, I’ve always watched growing up, there’s always that one guy you want to have the ball when the game is on the line. I need to be that guy.”

McIntyre was a good baseball player growing up and he certainly has a pedigree.

“When I was little, if I was watching baseball on TV and they changed the channel, I would start crying,” he said with an infectious laugh.

But you can’t pick what you love.

“It’s kind of crazy how basketball just kind of game into my life and took over,” McIntyre said. “It was baseball for the most part. In seventh grade, I thought, ‘Shoot, I’m short and white — let’s try to play basketball.’

“Basketball is my passion so it’s what I like to work at.”

He learned early on, from both of his grandfathers, that life is too short to do something you don’t love.

McIntyre talks daily to his grandpa Tony. It’s almost always about sports. And maybe his love life.

“I have a great family,” McIntyre said. “Everybody is so supportive. My grandpa Tony is my biggest supporter. I’ll get 20-30 minute phone calls every day. Guaranteed. I call him T-Mac. He loves me so much. I don’t know what I’d do without him.”

His mom’s dad, Rich Keckler, fought cancer for some time before passing away when McIntyre was younger.

“He’s a big reason why I play,” McIntyre said. “It gives me motivation when I think about things not going my way.”