Doug McDermott made a stop in Omaha on Monday before this week’s draft to talk to the media (Spomer/WBR)
In just a few days, a Creighton star will officially close the book on his amateur career and fulfill a dream that didn’t seem probable five years ago. By now everyone who knows the name Doug McDermott knows the story of how he got to this point. His dad got a new coaching job, and brought him along even though at first the coach thought McDermott might not be physically ready for Division 1 basketball. The coach thought about redshirting him, but didn’t. It proved to be the right move from the opening tip of the very first scrimmage. The spotlight grew brighter each and every year, but Doug McDermott managed to outshine it no matter how bright it got.
One All-American award, then two, then three. A clean sweep of every national player of the year award know to man. He earned conference player of the year awards twice in a mid-major conference, then one more in a major conference just for good measure. The opponents got stronger, faster, and better. It didn’t matter, because so did he. He accomplished more individually than almost any college player ever.
Now with Thursday’s 2014 NBA Draft approaching, Doug McDermott will take all of those accolades and lock them away. They won’t matter as much where he’s going. His new teammates, coaches, and opponents will ask questions just like most did five years ago. He’s been poked, prodded, weighed, and measured. Scouts, general managers, coaches, and players have watched him run, jump, and shoot. They’ve asked if he can guard LeBron James and Kevin Durant, or David West and Zach Randolph. No one knows the answer, not even McDermott. But he’s confident he has a place in the NBA. Just like he was confident he could play at a high level in college.
“I’m done. I don’t have to prove people wrong,” McDermott said. “It’s one of those deals where people are always going to try and pick something apart about you. I just look at myself as a basketball player. You’re always going to have those comparisons of who’s he going to guard or go up against, but I have a lot of confidence in myself that I can fit in right away.”
McDermott has gone through workouts for four NBA teams who wanted an extra, up-close look at the Creighton star after the combine in Chicago. Though he still doesn’t know where he’ll end up, he believes he showed well in his workouts leading up to the draft day.
“I worked out for the Lakers, the Celtics, Orlando and Charlotte,” he said. “Those were the four that I did. I got some good feedback. I went competitive with a lot of other guys that are in that range, and I feel like I held my own. Those teams still might not take me. There are definitely other teams behind them that came in and actually watched us work out in Chicago, so they have a pretty good feel for us, too.”
For the 3-time All-American, and reigning player of the year in college basketball, it doesn’t matter where he ends up so long as it is the right fit for him.
“The fit is definitely more important,” said McDermott. “It doesn’t really matter if you go to a team early if it’s a team you might not fit in with then it’s probably not a good thing for you. Even if you slide a little bit it can be a good thing because it means you’re in a better spot that fits your game.”
Though there are questions about his height, his reach, and which position he ultimately fits in at the next level, McDermott believes his experience in college, dealing with the pressure and the media, will give him an advantage over his peers and not let him be overwhelmed by his new stage.
“It helped a lot staying four years and going through all the expectations each year,” he said. “I think that will really help me because I’ve already gone through it, dealing with the media and all that stuff. Some of these kids have only played for a year and maybe haven’t gone through as much adversity as I have being a four-year guy. I think from day one I will be ready to help out a team.”
And so, a dream will become a reality on Thursday night for the 22-year-old McDermott. It’ll start by hearing his name called, then hugs from his family, and finally a handshake and a smile from a man, commissioner Adam Silver, who will also be experiencing the Draft for the first time.
“I’m really excited, it’s going to be really cool,” he said. “To go up for Adam Silver’s first draft I think is pretty cool. Especially with how big of an impact he’s already had in his first year. It’s going to be a dream come true to walk up there and shake his hand.”
What happens a few months after that handshake is still unknown, but it won’t matter on Thursday night. While he’s walking across that stage all of the fans who watched him become “Mr. 3,000” on senior night, the brother and sister who grew up with him, the mom who beat cancer and provided a shoulder to lean on, and the dad who still doesn’t get enough credit for molding the player and person his son became will all know how special that moment is.
A dream that started for a kid and became a reality for an adult.
Check out the sequence of photos from Doug’s game-winner against St. John’s earlier this year.