Doug McDermott appears to be the only member of the USA World University Games team who is a walk-on.
After Creighton’s Grant Gibbs was granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA Tuesday, Greg McDermott, the Creighton coach and Doug’s father, offered to pay his son’s tuition because the program now has more than 13 scholarship players.
“Wouldn’t give my scholarship up for anyone else,” McDermott told SNY.tv by text from Russia.
Tuition at Creighton — which joined the Big East on Monday — is $34,000 and the McDermotts will reportedly pay half that amount because of the school’s benefit package.
While all this went down, Doug was with the USA World University Games team en route to Kazan, Russia after departing Monday from Washington, D.C.
“I think it’s a really good group of guys,” McDermott told SNY.tv Monday. “We got a lot of athletes mixed with some guys that can really shoot it, with some really good coaches, so I think we got a really solid team headed over there.”
Two years ago, the 6-foot-8 McDermott was part of a U19 team that lost to Russia and ultimately finished fifth in Latvia.
He doesn’t want to repeat that experience this time.
“[I’m] very motivated,” McDermott said. “That’s still in the back of my mind. It alway has been ever since we lost. I kind of know what this experience is going to be like and know that I can’t take any plays off, anything for granted, because it can cost you a gold medal and send you home early, which nobody wants.”
While training in Colorado Springs, Colo., McDermott grew close with Cincinnati senior Sean Kilpatrick, who called McDermott “the new and improved Dirk Nowitzki.”
“I wouldn’t go that far, but it’s pretty high praise from another really good player,” McDermott said of Kilpatrick.
“We played him in the NCAA Tournament and I didn’t get a great feel for his game, but after being with him for a week, he’s impressed me with his shooting ability and he can score the basketball with his strong body.”
Creighton officially joined the Big East on Monday, along with Butler and Xavier, and McDermott figures to be the league’s Preseason Player of the Year. He’s already the SNY Preseason Player of the Year.
Obviously, the USA Basketball experience should help prepare him even more for the new league.
“After I played with the USA team a couple years ago I had the best year of my college career,” McDermott said. “So I think this will just be another great experience, kind of like a springboard going into my senior year with a lot of confidence and motivation to lead Creighton as far as I can.”
McDermott has never before played at Madison Square Garden, but will now play there for the postseason tournament.
“I’m really excited,” he said. “It’s going to be a great opportunity for us, for our school. I’ve always dreamed of playing in the Garden and some of those arenas. So it’s definitely going to be a challenge, but I think we’ll be ready for it. I think we’ll have enough guys returning to make some noise next year.”
McDermott opted to return to college instead of coming out in a what was considered a historically weak draft compared to the loaded 2014 NBA Draft.
Yet he feels he did the right thing and will be ready for the NBA in 2014.
“You know, after watching the draft, I still don’t regret my decision,” McDermott said.
“People say it was a weak draft. Maybe for a guy like myself, maybe I could’ve gotten drafted a little higher this year compared to next year. But in my heart and my gut I didn’t feel like I was 100 percent ready.
“So my thought process was I wanted to enter the NBA when I feel ready. And if that’s worth not getting picked quite as high, I’m fine with it because know I’ll be that much more prepared and that much more ready when the time comes.”
And by then, he may be the only walk-on taken in the NBA Draft.
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