We'd all heard about post-Pitt plans for Gilbert Brown and Brad Wanamaker. Both had scheduled meetings and tryouts with NBA teams (Brown with the Celtics and Wanamaker with the San Antonio Spurs and Atlanta Hawks). But there wasn't much news about center Gary McGhee.
That's changed now and the big man is heading overseas to Croatia.
His hometown paper has word that he's signed a two-year deal with KK Zagreb. But that apparently wasn't his only offer. The paper reports that McGhee turned down offers in Korea, Turkey, and Germany before accepting his deal:
"That’s the reason it took awhile," he said. "I wanted to make sure to get the best one. And I wanted to see if there would be an opportunity for me to come back and play in the NBA, of course."
Any thoughts of playing in the NBA are on hold for now due to that pesky lockout thing. Because of the lockout, McGhee participated in the Greentree Summer League:
"It was real fun," he said. "I got to work out a little bit, and my team made it to the championship game. But we lost."
Though he's happy with his current situation, he's still of course not giving on the NBA dream just yet:
McGhee is thankful for his opportunity in Croatia — which includes a free apartment, car, food and cable in addition to his salary — but he doesn’t feel as though his work is done.
"It makes me want to get in the gym and keep working on my game," he said. "And make it to the NBA, which is my dream."
I was never all that convinced that McGhee was an NBA draft pick, but with a few years of hard work, there's a chance that he gets into the league someday. Anyone who saw him early on at Pitt can explain just how much better he got over the course of four years and a bit more work on his offensive game might give him the shot he's waiting for.