The first thing you’ve got to get right is the pronunciation. It’s pronounced “Coo-vee-yon” and it’s French, Mac says.
After you’ve got that straightened out, understand that Mr. Couvillion is no run-of-the-mill student-athlete. He’s had an exceptional high school career, both as an athlete for the Mountain Brook basketball program and in the classroom at MBHS. Just listen to these accolades: Mu Alpha Theta Honor Society, Childhood Cancer Awareness Club, Spanish Honor Society, All-Area in Basketball, and Pensacola Beach All-Tournament Team. He says his favorite subject is chemistry and has plans to go into engineering or a science field once he gets to college.
Mac carries a 4.55 overall GPA at Mountain Brook High School and believes the key to achieving balance in the classroom and on the court is to keep his concentration segmented. Focus on the task at hand: while in basketball practice, focus on basketball. While you are in school, focus on school. It’s a pretty simple philosophy, but it works.
A forward for the Spartans, Mac recently concluded his high school basketball career for coach Tyler Davis. One thing Mac loved about Coach Davis’s approach was that he stressed winning each day and getting one percent better each time you set foot on the floor. It’s a principle you can apply to basketball, but also to life.
Davis reciprocates the praise. “Mac has been an excellent senior leader for us on the floor and off the floor!” he says. “Biggest asset he brings is his consistency!”
The son of Allison Parker and Matthew Couvillion, Mac says that his favorite thing about being an athlete at Mountain Brook is “being a part of a team that works together and goes through things together all season long.”
Here are a few quick-hitter questions we posed Mac to get to know him a little more:
1. Favorite restaurant: Chez Fon Fon (he’s a big fan of the hamburger and coconut cake)
2. Athlete I’d like to meet : Lebron James
3. Hobbies: Skiing, Cycling, Collecting Records
4. Dream Car/Truck: Pagani Zonda
5. What’s your go-to snack: Pretzels w/Nutella
6. Favorite weekend activity: Hanging out with friends
As is the same for his Talegate Featured Athlete counterpart from MBHS, Libby Geisler, Mac also says he loves to spend time with youth. “I’ve got a big family and I have a lot of younger siblings,” he says. “All of my siblings are under 10 now. I hang out with them a lot. The youngest one is five. So, I just try to be a good role model for them. We have a lot of family activities. When I can find the time, once basketball season is over in the winter, I like to go skiing.”
Though Mac is currently undecided on his college choice, he is undoubtedly headed for greater altitudes and seems to have the “how” figured out.
Focus, be segmented, embrace the daily grind, and get a little better each day.
For Mac Couvillion, that’s the chemistry of success. TG
A special thanks to our sponsor, Shades Valley Dermatology.
Photos by Al Blanton
