Motivated by Kobe Bryant, K-State guard Mike McGuirl regains form after concussion
Mike McGuirl can’t tell you much about how or when he suffered a concussion nearly three weeks ago during a basketball game against Texas, but he can tell you all about what he did while he was sidelined with the injury.
Anyone could.
Sitting at home with as few lights on as possible and watching while your teammates take the floor against Texas Tech, West Virginia and Kansas doesn’t make for much of a story.
“It was boring,” McGuirl said.
Frustrating as it was for McGuirl to miss three games in the middle of his junior season, the time away might come with some hidden benefits for the K-State guard. Some glossed over his absence as insignificant when the Wildcats throttled West Virginia 84-68 without him, but it’s clear now that they need him if they want to build off their recent home victory against Oklahoma.
McGuirl helped spark K-State during a narrow loss at Alabama last week and then he came off the bench to lead his team to victory over the Sooners with one of the most efficient stat lines the Wildcats have seen all season — 16 points on five shots in 26 minutes. He also played impressive defense, coming up with two steals.
His three-point shooting seemed to give K-State a big lift. McGuirl, who is shooting from 48.1% from distance this season, drained three shots from beyond the arc against Oklahoma, and all of them came at important times.
“He is our best shooter if you look at the stats for the season so that obviously helps,” K-State coach Bruce Weber said. “He has been one of our better defenders, so you get some versatility on both those things. It helps with our minutes. I am just happy, because he literally sat in the dark for seven days. It’s hard. It’s no fun.”
It may have also helped McGuirl bust out of a slump. McGuirl has certainly had his moments over the years, including 17 points in a NCAA Tournament victory over Creighton as a freshman. But he was struggling at the start of conference play as a junior.
McGuirl averaged 2.6 points in K-State’s first three conference games, and he seemed afraid to do much of anything on offense as he attempted a combined seven shots in those games.
Now his confidence appears back. Missing three games gave him a sense of urgency.
“Not as much a fire, but really just wanting to enjoy it. Just have fun,” McGuirl said. “I’m in my junior year. I’ve only got one more year after this. There’s not much time left. I’m blessed to be in the position I am. I just want to make the most out of it, have fun and do whatever it takes to try to help the team win because that’s what we’re going to look back on.”
McGuirl was also motivated by the tragic death of NBA great Kobe Bryant over the weekend. When he heard Bryant and his daughter died in a helicopter crash on Sunday, he threw on some lavender Mamba shoes and went to work.
Then he played his best game of the season against Oklahoma.
“I was really heartbroken by it,” McGuirl said. “When I find out about his daughter, it really took a toll on me. It was something that was hard for me to process. It just made me think, just have fun, enjoy every day and make the most out of it because you never know when it’s going to be your last day. I’ve really just been trying to have fun, enjoy myself, enjoy the game, enjoy teammates, coaches, everybody. (Wednesday) I made some shots. Next game it might be defense or rebounds or something else, but it was fun.”