SE: Steadfast McGuirl Ready to Take Advantage of Final Season
Oct 19, 2021 | Men's Basketball, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Through the ups and downs, Mike McGuirl has been the rock. When the native of Ellington, Connecticut announced on March 23 his decision to utilize an additional season due to the pandemic, McGuirl was the lone returning senior to a Kansas State men's basketball team needing experience and leadership — both of which the 6-foot-3, 200-pound guard provides in abundance.
Although the plans regarding McGuirl's exact role on the court remains undetermined, his 20 double-digit scoring games and team-leading 29 starts a year ago coupled with an insatiable team-first mentality aids the efforts of K-State head coach Bruce Weber to establish a foundation for a squad that brought in talented Division I transfers Mark Smith (Missouri), Ismael Massoud (Wake Forest) and Markquis Nowell (Little Rock) along with high school standouts Maximus Edwards and Logan Landers.
"We've all told him, 'Please enjoy. Take advantage of the opportunity, enjoy it, make the most out of it. You know how special K-State is. Be grateful for this opportunity and make the most (of it),'" Weber said. "I'm pretty sure he will."
McGuirl, who had a team-high 19 points and drained a career-high five 3-pointers to lead K-State to an upset win over No. 7 Oklahoma last February — a highlight during an otherwise challenging campaign in which the Wildcats finished with a 9-20 record — has scored 542 of his 705 career points and has played in 58 games with 49 starts in the past two seasons.
When summarizing McGuirl's importance to the Wildcats, consider that since McGuirl began his career on the 2018 Elite Eight squad, he has had a total of 40 different teammates over the course of five seasons. One year after K-State fielded the third-least-experienced team among Power 6 schools (only Auburn and Duke had less experience), the Wildcats harbor a group that includes two super seniors, one senior, three juniors, eight sophomores, and two freshmen.
"I mean, it's wild every year," McGuirl said. "Every year there are players who leave and new ones who come in, but the coaches have been here the whole time, and I'm really happy with the team we have now. I'm having a lot of fun. I really love this team. We're getting along well and we're just improving every day."
Sophomore point guard Nigel Pack (12.7 points), McGuirl (11.8), sophomore forward Davion Bradford (7.7) and sophomore guard Selton Miguel (7.2) give Weber four of his top five scorers from a year ago while Bradford (4.3) is also the team's top-returning rebounder and shot blocker (0.4). Pack (3.8) and McGuirl (3.6) ranked first and second in assists last season.
The 6-foot-5, 200-pound Smith, a super senior, is a long shooting guard who has scored nearly 1,000 career points and is expected to emerge as one of the team's top players. The 5-foot-7, 155-pound Nowell, a point guard with two years of remaining eligibility, was a first team All-Sun Belt selection in 2019-20 and has also scored nearly 1,000 points in his career. Described as a combo guard, 6-foot-9, 200-pound Massoud arrived at Wake Forest as a top-150 recruit and played in 53 games with nine starts from 2019-21 for head coaches Danny Manning and Steve Forbes.
Weber and his coaching staff continue to work toward developing the best lineups in practice, as the Wildcats build toward their lone exhibition game against Pittsburg State on November 4 at Bramlage Coliseum. So far, McGuirl has been impressed by the Wildcats' reinforcements.
"They're all really good," McGuirl said of the three Division I transfers. "They're all going to help us this year. They've all been great on and off the court. Each one brings something different. Markquis (Nowell) is a point guard who can really score and get others involved and he's a gnat defensively. Mark (Smith) is a strong and athletic wing who can really guard as well as shoot the ball. They all can really shoot it. They give us the ability to be versatile and deep."
McGuirl during a recent Zoom call with reporters said that his role was "still to be determined."
"I don't know what I'll be doing," he said, "but I'm going be out there, and I'm going to be helping the team win in whatever fashion that looks like. If that's five assists, if that's 10 rebounds, whatever I'm called to do, I'm going to do it to help the team win. And so that's all I really strive (to do) is to help our team win."
McGuirl has been a part of a 2018 Elite Eight team and a 2019 Big 12 Championship squad, and he's been a part of teams that have incurred a tough stretch over the past two seasons. Yet his energy, positivity and allegiance to Weber and his staff amid this transfer-happy college climate remains steadfast. They are admirable traits in an unrelenting world in which some athletes have become steeped in self-gratification.
"This is the right place for me and the right decision to come back," McGuirl said. "I have so much trust in this coaching staff with Coach Weber. We have a relationship that you can't just create in one year. So, it was a quick decision because it was an easy decision. And then when I made the decision, like I had a vision in my head of how I would like things to like, to be the leader of the team and I think it's just right on point with that."
In the end, McGuirl believes that his decision to return, which he announced just 12 days after the final game of the season, was a no-brainer.
He wanted to be there for the team. Again.
And that makes him a super senior in so many ways.
Through the ups and downs, Mike McGuirl has been the rock. When the native of Ellington, Connecticut announced on March 23 his decision to utilize an additional season due to the pandemic, McGuirl was the lone returning senior to a Kansas State men's basketball team needing experience and leadership — both of which the 6-foot-3, 200-pound guard provides in abundance.
Although the plans regarding McGuirl's exact role on the court remains undetermined, his 20 double-digit scoring games and team-leading 29 starts a year ago coupled with an insatiable team-first mentality aids the efforts of K-State head coach Bruce Weber to establish a foundation for a squad that brought in talented Division I transfers Mark Smith (Missouri), Ismael Massoud (Wake Forest) and Markquis Nowell (Little Rock) along with high school standouts Maximus Edwards and Logan Landers.
"We've all told him, 'Please enjoy. Take advantage of the opportunity, enjoy it, make the most out of it. You know how special K-State is. Be grateful for this opportunity and make the most (of it),'" Weber said. "I'm pretty sure he will."
McGuirl, who had a team-high 19 points and drained a career-high five 3-pointers to lead K-State to an upset win over No. 7 Oklahoma last February — a highlight during an otherwise challenging campaign in which the Wildcats finished with a 9-20 record — has scored 542 of his 705 career points and has played in 58 games with 49 starts in the past two seasons.
When summarizing McGuirl's importance to the Wildcats, consider that since McGuirl began his career on the 2018 Elite Eight squad, he has had a total of 40 different teammates over the course of five seasons. One year after K-State fielded the third-least-experienced team among Power 6 schools (only Auburn and Duke had less experience), the Wildcats harbor a group that includes two super seniors, one senior, three juniors, eight sophomores, and two freshmen.
"I mean, it's wild every year," McGuirl said. "Every year there are players who leave and new ones who come in, but the coaches have been here the whole time, and I'm really happy with the team we have now. I'm having a lot of fun. I really love this team. We're getting along well and we're just improving every day."
Sophomore point guard Nigel Pack (12.7 points), McGuirl (11.8), sophomore forward Davion Bradford (7.7) and sophomore guard Selton Miguel (7.2) give Weber four of his top five scorers from a year ago while Bradford (4.3) is also the team's top-returning rebounder and shot blocker (0.4). Pack (3.8) and McGuirl (3.6) ranked first and second in assists last season.
The 6-foot-5, 200-pound Smith, a super senior, is a long shooting guard who has scored nearly 1,000 career points and is expected to emerge as one of the team's top players. The 5-foot-7, 155-pound Nowell, a point guard with two years of remaining eligibility, was a first team All-Sun Belt selection in 2019-20 and has also scored nearly 1,000 points in his career. Described as a combo guard, 6-foot-9, 200-pound Massoud arrived at Wake Forest as a top-150 recruit and played in 53 games with nine starts from 2019-21 for head coaches Danny Manning and Steve Forbes.
Weber and his coaching staff continue to work toward developing the best lineups in practice, as the Wildcats build toward their lone exhibition game against Pittsburg State on November 4 at Bramlage Coliseum. So far, McGuirl has been impressed by the Wildcats' reinforcements.
"They're all really good," McGuirl said of the three Division I transfers. "They're all going to help us this year. They've all been great on and off the court. Each one brings something different. Markquis (Nowell) is a point guard who can really score and get others involved and he's a gnat defensively. Mark (Smith) is a strong and athletic wing who can really guard as well as shoot the ball. They all can really shoot it. They give us the ability to be versatile and deep."
McGuirl during a recent Zoom call with reporters said that his role was "still to be determined."
"I don't know what I'll be doing," he said, "but I'm going be out there, and I'm going to be helping the team win in whatever fashion that looks like. If that's five assists, if that's 10 rebounds, whatever I'm called to do, I'm going to do it to help the team win. And so that's all I really strive (to do) is to help our team win."
McGuirl has been a part of a 2018 Elite Eight team and a 2019 Big 12 Championship squad, and he's been a part of teams that have incurred a tough stretch over the past two seasons. Yet his energy, positivity and allegiance to Weber and his staff amid this transfer-happy college climate remains steadfast. They are admirable traits in an unrelenting world in which some athletes have become steeped in self-gratification.
"This is the right place for me and the right decision to come back," McGuirl said. "I have so much trust in this coaching staff with Coach Weber. We have a relationship that you can't just create in one year. So, it was a quick decision because it was an easy decision. And then when I made the decision, like I had a vision in my head of how I would like things to like, to be the leader of the team and I think it's just right on point with that."
In the end, McGuirl believes that his decision to return, which he announced just 12 days after the final game of the season, was a no-brainer.
He wanted to be there for the team. Again.
And that makes him a super senior in so many ways.
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