SE: McGruder Built ‘Culture’ at K-State to Reach NBA Dream
Jun 30, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Sports Extra
Rodney McGruder's first season at K-State ended with the men's basketball team's farthest run in the NCAA Tournament since 1988. His senior campaign included K-State's first Big 12 Championships in more than 35 years.
McGruder, one of only two Wildcats (joining Bob Boozer) to rank in the Top 10 in both career scoring (1,576/7th) and rebounding (654/8th), was part of the winningest class in school history (101 victories) and only the second class to advance to four consecutive NCAA Tournaments. He left seventh on the Wildcats' all-time scoring list (1,576 points) and as a three-time All-Big 12 selection, along with an Honorable Mention All-America honor from the Associated Press as a senior.
McGruder, coming off his first season in the NBA, said the accolades he garnered and the numbers he produced as a Wildcat aren't what guided him to his current position of living out a dream.
They were a product of what he learned as a Wildcat and the people he met in his four years at K-State.
"I'm most proud of the people I met, the teammates I played with and the human being I became," the Miami Heat guard said. "Basketball doesn't last forever, but you as a person, that goes on. People remember you as a person more than they will as an athlete.
"The coaches I played for, the people I met here… coming here helped me build culture in myself. It really did."
McGruder returned to Manhattan last week, a trip he tries to make a few times a year to return to that culture — of hard work, selflessness and resilience, among other admirable traits.
"It's family here," McGruder said. "I come back to see my teammates. I like to see the young guys, see the coaching staff and just see good people. There are good people here in Manhattan. I just like the energy in Manhattan."
While back, he reunited with former teammates like Jordan Henriquez, Curtis Kelly, Martavious Irving and Shane Southwell. He also spoke to the youth attending one of head coach Bruce Weber's summer camps, with his message centered on dreams.
"We all have to have a dream in life. No matter what you want to do, you have to have a dream in life," McGruder told the campers. "That's how you get to where you want to be in life, you have a dream. You have to start somewhere. In order to accomplish the dreams we have in life, we have to work hard."
For McGruder, playing in the NBA was always a dream. He never thought about it as a serious possibility, however, until his friend and AAU teammate Michael Beasley was drafted No. 2 overall in 2008 out of K-State.
"'It's a possibility," McGruder recalled thinking at the time. "If I start putting that work in, maybe one day my dream will come true."
A native of Washington D.C., McGruder took a much different route to the NBA than Beasley.
McGruder went undrafted out of college, was waived by two NBA teams and another in the Developmental League. He then played a season in Hungary before returning the D-League to continue pursuing his life's mission of playing in the NBA.
"My goal in life was never to be an overseas basketball player," McGruder said. "I wanted to play in the NBA, and I told myself the best possibility to play in the NBA is playing in the Developmental League."
In the 2015-16 season with the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the Heat's affiliate, McGruder helped lead the team to a D-League Championship under head coach Dan Craig, who now serves as an assistant coach for Miami.
"He really helped me out, simplified the game for me, made it easier," McGruder said of Craig. "The game slowed down for me."
After putting up stellar numbers with the Skyforce in the championship season — 15.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.4 assists a game — McGruder received a three-year, partially guaranteed contract from the Heat. He still needed to make the roster, however, which was no small task considering the plethora of talented backcourt players he was competing against.
Even as cuts approached, McGruder never felt anxious, nervous or worried about what may come.
"Whatever is meant to be in life, will be. If you give it your all, then you shouldn't be worried about anything," McGruder said. "If you give it your all, everything is going to happen the way it's supposed to."
McGruder's faith in the work he put in paid off, as he made the Heat's 15-man roster for the 2016-17 season. He went on to play in a team-high 78 games that included 65 starts, the most by a Heat rookie since Mario Chalmers started all 82 in 2008-09.
On the court, McGruder was a do-it-all player for Miami and fell just two votes shy of making the NBA All-Rookie Second Team, a feat only two other Wildcats (Michael Beasley, Mitch Richmond) have achieved.
Last season, McGruder averaged 6.4 points, second-most among undrafted rookies in the NBA last season, while grabbing 3.3 rebounds per game to lead undrafted rookies. The 6-foot-5 shooting guard also regularly defended the opposing team's best players, challenging the likes of LeBron James, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony on a nightly basis.
McGruder's play earned him a nickname, "The Scavenger," from veteran guard Goran Dragic. McGruder wears it proudly.
"It's a compliment because a scavenger just goes out there and tries to get whatever he wants and does whatever it takes to survive," McGruder said. "Playing hard, giving energy and competing, I think that's my niche."
The Heat started last season in a bad way, reaching the halfway point with an 11-30 record. By the end of the 82-game schedule, they were one of the hottest teams in the league. Miami went 30-11 in the second half of the season and tied for eighth place in the Eastern Conference, missing out on the last spot in the playoffs via a tiebreaker.
Still, this turnaround, McGruder said, trumped any personal achievements.
"It showed the fight in us and the trust that the management had in us. We could've made trades at the trade deadline, but they believed in us and the core that we had, and we turned it around," he said. "Going from the worst team in the league to finishing tied for eighth, that was satisfying for me."
Given McGruder's work ethic, Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra — who competes with the former Wildcat to be the first person at the Heat facility — believes last season could be the start of a successful NBA career.
"Rodney will be relentless, as relentless as he's ever been, as anybody's ever been in our building," Spoelstra told reporters following last season. "He'll continue to evolve his game, like he has. If there's a 10,000 hour rule, he broke the doors off that one."
McGruder intends to keep breaking down doors, too.
"I'm going to put the work in and they're going to help me become a better person and a better player," he said. "It is only the beginning."
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