Mitchell Neil William McGary (born June 6, 1992) is an American former professional basketball player. A native of Chesterton, Indiana, McGary declared for the NBA draft after completing his sophomore season for the 2013–14 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team. He was drafted 21st overall by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2014 NBA draft.
At the time of his National Letter of Intent signing with Michigan Wolverines basketball, ESPN.com and Scout.com ranked McGary as the number two player in the United States high school class of 2012, while Rivals.com ranked him as the number three prospect. He was not only the consensus top power forward recruit in the nation, but also the top big man according to most sources at the time. After his signing, however, McGary fell down in the rankings as his underdeveloped offensive skills became apparent.
At Michigan, McGary became the sixth man as well as the leading shot blocker and rebounder for the 2012–13 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team. During the season, he was twice named Big Ten Freshman of the Week. He became the regular starter during the 2013 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament and earned South All-Regional Team and NCAA All-Tournament Team recognition as he helped the team reach the championship game. He led all Big Ten freshmen in rebounding.
Early life
Mitch McGary was born on June 6, 1992, and grew up in the Chesterton, Indiana, area. He played in YMCA and Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball leagues as a youth, and his father, Tim, who had never played organized sports, coached him until fourth grade. McGary's mother is named Valerie. When McGary was younger, his father thought his athletic future was in baseball. McGary played on the 2007–08 Chesterton High School junior varsity team as a freshman, while eventual three-time Michigan Wolverines captain Zack Novak was a senior on the varsity team. That year he also was a , freshman tight end on the high school football team, but his father made him quit football as he continued to grow. His local Indiana SPY Players AAU basketball team included future Michigan teammates Max Bielfeldt and Glenn Robinson III, son of Glenn Robinson. McGary joined the varsity basketball team the following season and played two years. McGary is afflicted with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. He eventually transferred to Brewster Academy, a prep school in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, to repeat his junior year because his parents thought the discipline would be good for him. Before transferring to Brewster, McGary was the tallest kid in his school and in the basketball conference that he played in. McGary shoots left-handed.
As late as March 2011, McGary ranked 92nd in the national class of 2012 by Rivals.com. During the LeBron James Skills Academy in July, McGary stood out as the best player in attendance. He was invited to participate in the 5th annual Nike Global Challenge the following month. Due to an ankle injury he did not participate. However, later that month, he participated in the Boost Mobile Elite 24 event, where he shattered a backboard. His other 2011 summer camps included Pittsburgh Jam Fest, the National Basketball Players Association Top 100 camp and the Under Armour Best of the Best Camp, where he was the most valuable player. McGary scheduled his official Michigan visit for the beginning of September. McGary completed his official campus visits to University of Michigan, University of North Carolina, and Duke University, in that order, by October 4. However, due to injuries suffered a few weeks earlier while shattering the backboard, he only played pick-up games at Duke. He also made an unofficial visit to Florida prior to these official visits.
His reported best friend, Robinson had committed to Michigan on September 14, 2010. In a press conference broadcast on ESPNU on November 3, 2011, McGary announced his verbal commitment to Michigan over his other two finalist Florida and Duke. Within hours of the commitment, ESPN ranked Michigan's recruiting class the fifth best in the nation. After several other schools announced their commitments, Michigan, which had been outside the top 25 at the end of October, ranked the number 7 class in the nation, according to ESPN. He waited until November 9 to sign his National Letter of Intent so that his parents, who were still living in Indiana, could be present. Both of his parents had liked head coach Mike Krzyzewski and had hoped that he would choose Duke. At the time of their November 2011 National Letter of Intent signings, Nik Stauskas, Robinson and McGary gave Michigan a consensus top 10 entering class for its 2012 class.
McGary was technically eligible for the 2012 NBA draft. Brewster entered the 2012 NEPSAC Class AAA Boys' Basketball Tournament undefeated and ranked number 1 in the nation according to the Five-Star Basketball Rankings published in Sports Illustrated, but lost in the semifinals of the tournament to Northfield Mount Hermon School, who was led by future teammate Spike Albrecht, in overtime on March 2. In the overtime period, McGary missed a game-tying free throw with 17.3 seconds remaining. His Brewster team defeated Massanutten Military Academy and Notre Dame Prep to reach the March 7 championship game in the National Prep Championship against Hargrave Military Academy. Brewster won the National Prep Championship Game. The 2011–12 Brewster team was reported to have eight future Division I basketball players, including Florida State commit Aaron Thomas, Xavier commit Semaj Christon, NC State commit T. J. Warren, and JaKarr Sampson. JaKarr Sampson earned both the 2012 National Prep Championship MVP and New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) AAA Player of the Year, leaving McGary with a supporting role.
McGary was invited to participate in the four-team All-American Championship along with future teammate Robinson in New Orleans on April 1, 2012. Six days later, McGary represented USA Basketball at the 15th annual Nike Hoops Summit as part of the 2012 USA Junior National Select Team. Following the season, he was named as one of 40 Parade All-Americans.
During his senior season, scouts became aware that McGary was less polished offensively than he had appeared. By January, his ranking had been reduced from number 2 overall to about number 20. He eventually settled between 26th and 30th by Scout.com, ESPN and Rivals.com in the final class of 2012 overall rankings.
College career The 2011–12 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team had been co-champions of 2011–12 Big Ten Conference, but lost both of its co-captains, Zack Novak and Stu Douglass, to graduation and three players as transfers. The team was returning a nucleus of All-Big Ten players Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr.
Freshman
In the third game of the season and the third of his career, McGary posted a game-high 9 rebounds in 17 minutes of play off the bench against Cleveland State on November 13. McGary also went 3-for-3 on his field goals. McGary reached double figures in scoring for the first time December 4 against Western Michigan (Michigan's eighth game of the season) when he scored 10 points on 5-for-5 shooting in 14 minutes of play off the bench. He had his first 10-rebound game on December 11 against the Binghamton Bearcats. On December 20, he posted his first double-double with a then career-high 11 rebounds and 10 points as well as a then career-high 3 steals in just 18 minute of play against Eastern Michigan. On December 24, he was recognized as Big Ten Freshman of the Week. On January 6, McGary tied then career high with 11 rebounds, tied a then career high 2 assists and set a career high with 3 blocked shots against Iowa. On January 28, Michigan was ranked number one in the AP Poll with 51 of the 65 first place votes. It marked the first time Michigan ranked atop the AP Poll since the Fab Five 1992–93 team did so on December 5, 1992.
McGary played a career-high 29 minutes, tallying then career highs of 14 points and 4 steals, along with 6 rebounds, on February 5 in an overtime victory against Ohio State. For his efforts in two overtime games during the week, McGary earned his second Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor on February 11. On February 12 in Michigan's 25th game of the season, McGary made his first appearance in the starting lineup in the rivalry game against Michigan State. Michigan lost 75–52 with McGary posting a team-high 4 rebounds. On March 14, in the first round of the 2013 Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament against Penn State, McGary posted his second career double-double, reaching 10 points and 10 rebounds in the first half, but only adding one more rebound in the second half.
Prior to the 2013 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com named Michigan with McGary first among tournament teams in terms of having the most future NBA talent on its roster (in the absence of Kentucky who was relegated to the 2013 National Invitation Tournament). As a number four seed, Michigan defeated its first NCAA tournament opponent, South Dakota State, 71–56 on March 21 with McGary making his third start of the season and contributing 13 points and 9 rebounds. The 27th victory of the season gave the team its most wins in 20 years and matched head coach John Beilein's career high. Two days later McGary made his fourth career start, adding career highs of 21 points on 10-for-11 shooting and 14 rebounds against VCU in a 78–53 victory. His 10–11 (90.9%) field goal percentage is the best shooting performance by a Wolverine in the NCAA Tournament (min 10 attempts). In the first two tournament games combined, he shot 16-for-20. On March 29 against Kansas, McGary earned his third consecutive start and 5th start of the season. He scored a career-high 25 points and career-high tying 14 rebounds, marking his second consecutive and fourth career double-double. He shot 12-for-17 in the game. McGary joined Blake Griffin (2009) as the only two players in the last 15 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournaments to achieve 14 or more rebounds and 21 or more points in back-to-back games. With his tournament run, McGary became the Big Ten Conference leader in field goal percentage (although he slipped just below Victor Oladipo at the end of the season). In the regional finals on March 31 against Florida, McGary contributed 9 rebounds and 11 points, including 8 points as Michigan opened up a 13–0 lead to start the game. McGary also added a career-high 5 steals during his fourth consecutive start. 5 steals tied Rickey Green (1977) and Tom Stanton (1977) as the best single-NCAA Tournament game performance in school history, but was surpassed by Derrick Walton in 2018. McGary and Stauskas joined Most Outstanding Player Trey Burke on the 5-man South All-Regional team. Following the regional championship postgame prayer and with Mrs. Beilein's consent, McGary and Tim Hardaway Jr. gave head coach John Beilein a gatorade shower. In the April 6 national semifinal against Syracuse, McGary contributed 10 points and 12 rebounds along with a career-high 6 assists. Two nights later, Michigan lost in the championship game to Louisville by an 82–76 margin as McGary contributed 6 points, 6 rebounds, a steal, a block and an assist. McGary made the 7-man All-Tournament team (which was revised multiple times) along with teammates Burke and Albrecht. In his six NCAA Tournament starts, he averaged a double-double with 14.3 points and 10.8 rebounds. McGary finished the season as the Big Ten conference freshman leader in rebounding and placed second to Victor Oladipo in field goal percentage (59.87% vs. 59.82%).
2013 NBA draft