Donnie McGrath

Donald Michael McGrath^[1] (born May 7, 1984) is an American–Irish professional basketball player for the Long Island Nets of the NBA Development League. He played college basketball at Providence College.

Early life and high school career

McGrath grew up in Westchester County outside of New York City.

He starred at John F. Kennedy Catholic High School in Somers, N.Y., where he played four seasons on varsity. During that time, the Gaels went 79-12 and won four league titles. He was an all-league first-team player all four seasons, and first-team all state his last two seasons. He finished his varsity career with a school-record 1,725 career points. He averaged 30.9 points, 7.6 assists and 6.5 rebounds per game his senior year, and was named Westchester County Mr. Basketball.

McGrath grew up playing AAU in New York City with renowned clubs New York Gauchos and New York Ravens out of the Bronx, NY. He became a regular at streetball tournaments in the city and earned himself several nicknames on the court. He was an all-star at the prestigious ABCD Adidas All-American Camp and he was ranked as a consensus Top 100 national player in the class of 2002. After being highly recruited, he decided to accept a scholarship to Providence College and play in the Big East Conference.

College career

McGrath launched his career at Providence by being named to the Big East all-rookie team. He started all 32 of the Friars' games and finished the season with 138 assists and just 76 turnovers while averaging 9.1 points per game.

McGrath led the Friars in scoring (career-high average of 15.1 ppg) and 3-pointers (77) his senior year (2005–06). He also earned second-team All-Big East honors in the first year of expansion of the Big East into a 16-team power conference considered the best in the country. He was also named NABC Second Team All-District 1. His average of 2.85 3-pointers per game ranked seventh in the Big East.

During the season, he scored 16 points against Northeastern on Dec. 20, 2005 to become the 37th PC player to register 1,000 points in his career.

McGrath went 9-of-9 from 3-point range against the University of Virginia on Feb. 2, 2005, scoring 27 points and adding seven assists and five rebounds. His 9-of-9 performance on 3-pointers was an NCAA record for most 3-point field goals made in a game without a miss at that time.

McGrath ended his career at Providence No. 1 in school history in minutes played (4,128), games started (117) and 3-pointers (274) and 17th on the Friars' career scoring list with 1,282 points.

Professional career

After working out for several NBA teams, McGrath went undrafted in the 2006 NBA Draft. He signed on to the New York Knicks' team to compete in Las Vegas NBA Summer League. After suffering torn ligaments to his thumb, he was unable to play in any of the games.

McGrath then signed his first contract with Pallacanestro Cantù of the Italian Serie-A League. He played the 2006-07 season with Cantu. After a successful year with Cantu, he played 2007-08 season with the renowned Virtus Bologna, also of the Serie-A Italian League, and also competed in the Euroleague for the first time. He averaged 7.1 points per game.

He signed with Egaleo of the Greece A-1 League in 2008-09. He averaged 13.9 points per game, leading the team in scoring.

In 2009-10, he signed with AEK Athens and averaged 12.2 points per game. In December 2009, he moved to Cimberio Varese of the Italian Serie-A League for the rest of the season.

In 2010-11 he played at PAOK Thessaloniki of the Greece A-1 league and also competed in the Eurocup. He averaged 9.2 points per game as the starting point guard in the Greek competition and 8.8 points per game. He led the team in assists in Eurocup competition.

For the 2011-12 season, McGrath signed at Cholet Basket, one of the top three teams in the French Pro-A League and competes in the Eurocup.

“They are one of the best French teams," McGrath told TheDailyWestchester.com. "They won the championship two years ago, and lost in the finals last season."

On February 24, 2012, McGrath signed with Scaligera Basket Verona in Italy. On February 11, 2013, McGrath signed with Žalgiris Kaunas.

On October 20, 2014, McGrath signed with the Turkish team Anadolu Efes.^[2] On December 31, 2014, he left Efes and signed with Krasny Oktyabr of Russia for the rest of the season.^[3]

On August 17, 2016, McGrath signed with Lietuvos rytas Vilnius of the Lithuanian Basketball League.^[4] However, on August 31, 2016, McGrath terminated his contract with the team and returned to the United States after he found out that his father has been diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer.^[5] On November 1, he was acquired by the Long Island Nets of the NBA Development League.^[6]

International career

McGrath was able to attain Irish Citizenship, enabling him to play in Europe with his passport from Ireland. His grandmother was born in Ireland before emigrating to New York when she was young. In 2006 and 2008, McGrath played on the Ireland national team in the European Championships.

In 2008, he led Ireland's team in scoring and all players in group B scoring with an average of over 20 points per game, scoring 34 against Georgia in the qualifying rounds.

Personal

McGrath's nickname from a young age "D-Mac" has stuck even until today. He lives in New York City in summers during his offseason and he has built quite a reputation playing on the streetball summer leagues of New York.

“I definitely consider Europe a second home now,” McGrath told DailyVoice.com. “I really like it here. Some places are better than others, just like in the U.S., but I really enjoy it here. It's always great to get back to New York in the summer and be with family and friends, but it’s also great to get back to Europe and playing and my friends here."

In 2009, he went 7-of-7 from 3-point range and 10-of-11 from the field at Nike's Pro City tournament at Hunter College, scoring 29 points. Donnie's parents are Eileen and Thomas McGrath, He has an older brother Tom and a younger sister, Erin. He's married to model Arlenis Sosa.

References

External links

• Donnie McGrath at euroleague.net
• Donnie McGrath at fiba.com