NCAA World Mourns the Loss of Walt McGrory at Age 21 after Battling Cancer for 2 Years

Former Wisconsin guard Walt McGrory passed away on Saturday after a two-year fight with cancer. He represented the Badgers from 2017-2021. He was diagnosed with bone cancer at the age of 21 in 2021.

The news was broken by McGrory’s Instagram account on Monday. He also used to update his followers with the details of his struggle with the grave illness from time to time.

A Champion At Heart

McGrory played in 37 games over a period of four years and also helped his team clinch a share of the Big Ten regular-season title in 2019-20. He had also revealed his idea of transferring to the South Dakota in April 2021. Unfortunately, he couldn’t complete the move since he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in the same year. 

Accumulating 2,126 points, McGrory was the highest scorer for the Edina High School boys team. As per Kare 11, the Edina Hornets posted a condolence message for the same expressing their grief and shock at the event.

“The Edina (basketball) community is deeply saddened by the passing of Walt McGrory,” the post read as per Kare 11. Edina’s former head coach Joe Burger also divulged that McGrory “hated the limelight”. And even during the time he was being applauded for achieving a rare feat, McGrory was “making sure that we didn’t mess with the game ball because we still had a game to play and that was just him.”

As per Kare 11, his close associate and former teammate Derek Graf also reminisced him. “He probably assisted me on over half of the points I ever scored in high school basketball,” Graf recollected. 

He played a maximum of 14 games in a season during his junior year at the Badgers and scored 1.1 points per game along with grabbing 0.6 points per match and 0.4 assists per contest. He had a good 75% free throw percentage that year with 38.5% field goal percentage and 28.6% three-pointer percentage. His best three-pointer percentage  came in his sophomore year when he basketed 50% three-pointers. 

As per Kare 11, the Badgers coach Greg Gard also released his statement and heaped praises on McGrory’s spirit for battling against the disease with immense gut and resilience.

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“Our hearts and prayers go out to the family and friends of Walt McGrory,” said Wisconsin coach Greg Gard in a statement. “The courage and fight that Walt demonstrated throughout his two-year battle with cancer was an inspiration to us all. Walt never quit. Instead, he chose to fight every day and made the most of his circumstances by sharing his journey and inspiring others. Walt was a beloved member of our team and the Badger family, and we will miss him dearly.”

Reactions to his passing away

On the original Instagram post through his account, a fan commented “Love you Walt. Miss you”, while McKinley Wright IV of Budućnost VOLI of the Erste Liga commented “Walt was a great basketball player, but more importantly, he was a force. The voracity with which he fought cancer exemplified his warrior spirit and exuberance for life. To his family, we will follow his example and will pray for your healing too.”

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San Antonio Spurs star Tre Jones commented, “Rest in peace Walt.. an inspiration to us all.” Whereas the NCAA star Paige Bueckers wrote, “Rest in peace.” Former Wisconsin center Chris Vogt wrote, “An inspiration to all around him.” Thus McGrory had messages pouring on his demise from everywhere.