Donald Michael McGrath (born May 7, 1984) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. He played

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Providence College Providence College is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic university in Providence, Rhode Island. Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Order and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, local diocese, it offers 47 undergradua ...

and on the Irish national basketball team after obtaining Irish citizenship.

Early life and high school career

McGrath grew up in

Westchester County Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population o ...

, outside of

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. 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 street ball tournaments in the city, and earned himself several nicknames on the court. He was an all-star at the prestigious

ABCD Camp The ABCD Basketball Camp was a youth basketball camp founded by Sonny Vaccaro that was held from 1984 to 2006. The camp gathered the highest ranked high school players of the United States, and was considered one of the top events of high school b ...

, 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

, to play in the Big East Conference.

College career

McGrath launched his

career at

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

, 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 points per game), and 3-pointers (77) in his senior year (2005–06). He also earned second-team All-Big East honors in the first year of the expansion of the Big East into a 16-team power conference, which was considered the best in the country. He was also named

NABC NABC is an initialism that may refer to any of the following: *North American Bridge Championships, North American contract bridge tournaments * National Association of Basketball Coaches, an American trade association of men's college basketball c ...

Second Team All-District 1. His average of 2.85 made 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 Providence player to register 1,000 points in his college career. McGrath went 9-of-9 from 3-point range, against the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

, 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 Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

record for most 3-point field goals made in a game, without a miss, at that time. McGrath ended his career at Providence, ranked number one in school history in minutes played (4,128), games started (117), and 3-pointers made (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 The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

' summer team to compete in the Las Vegas

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. After suffering

torn ligament A sprain, also known as a torn ligament, is an acute soft tissue injury of the ligaments within a joint, often caused by a sudden movement abruptly forcing the joint to exceed its functional range of motion. Ligaments are tough, inelastic fibers ...

s in his thumb, he was unable to play in any of the games. McGrath then signed his first pro contract with Pallacanestro Cantù of the Italian LBA League. He then played the 2006–07 season with Cantù. After a successful year with Cantù, he played the 2007–08 season with the renowned Virtus Bologna, also of the LBA Italian League, and he also competed in the EuroLeague, for the first time. He averaged 7.6 points per game in the EuroLeague. He signed with

Egaleo Aigaleo or Egaleo ( el, Αιγάλεω ) is a suburban municipality in the western part of Athens, belonging to the West Athens regional administrative unit. It takes its name from Mount Aigaleo. Its population was 69,946 at the 2011 census. Ge ...

of Greece's Basket League, for the 2008–09 season. He averaged 13.5 points per game in the Greek League, leading the team in scoring. For the 2009–10 season, he signed with Greek club AEK Athens, and he averaged 12.0 points per game with them in the Greek League. In December 2009, he moved to Cimberio Varese of the Italian LBA League, for the rest of the season. In the 2010–11 season, he played with

PAOK Thessaloniki PAOK ( el, ΠΑΟΚ, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών, ''Panthessalonikeios Athlitikós Ómilos Constantinopoliton'', ''Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans' ...

of the Greek Basket League, and he also competed in the EuroCup. He averaged 9.3 points per game as the team's starting

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

in the Greek competition, and 8.8 points per game in the EuroCup competition. He was second on the team in assists in the EuroCup competition. On December 30, 2011, McGrath joined the Italian club

Teramo Basket Teramo Basket was a professional basketball club that is based in Teramo, Italy. Established in 1960, Teramo played in the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA), Italy's top league, for 10 years before they were moved to the Serie B. The team played at PalaS ...

, on a one-month contract, with an option for an extension until the end of the season. For the 2011–12 season, McGrath signed with the French club Cholet Basket, of the

LNB Pro A The LNB Pro A, currently known for sponsorship reasons as Betclic Élite, is the top-tier men's professional basketball league in France. The competition has existed since 1921. Since 1987, the Ligue Nationale de Basket has governed the league. ...

league and 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." Donnie McGrath by Augustas Didzgalvis

On February 24, 2012, McGrath signed with

Scaligera Basket Verona Scaligera Basket Verona, known for sponsorship reasons as Tezenis Verona, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Verona, Italy. It competes in the LBA. History 1951–1982: Decades within the minor leagues Scaligera Basket was found ...

in Italy. On February 11, 2013, McGrath signed with the Lithuanian club Žalgiris Kaunas. On October 20, 2014, McGrath signed with the Turkish team

Anadolu Efes Anadolu Efes Biracılık ve Malt Sanayii A.Ş.''(lit. Anadolu Efes Brewery and Malt Industries)'' produces and markets beer and malt and non-alcoholic beverages in a wide geographical area comprising Turkey, Russia, the Commonwealth of Independe ...

. On December 31, 2014, he left Efes, and signed with Krasny Oktyabr of Russia, for the rest of the season. On August 17, 2016, McGrath signed with Lietuvos rytas of the Lithuanian Basketball League. 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 had been diagnosed with an undisclosed form of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

. On November 1, he was acquired by the Long Island Nets of the

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

. On January 5, 2017, he was waived by the Nets, after appearing in twelve games. On January 12, 2017, he returned to AEK Athens, after 7 years, signing a contract for the rest of the 2016–17 season. On August 10, 2017, McGrath signed with Real Betis Energía Plus of the Spanish LEB Oro.

National team career

McGrath was able to attain Irish citizenship, enabling him to play in Europe with an Irish passport, because his grandmother was born in Ireland, before emigrating to New York when she was young. In

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

and

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, McGrath played on the Irish national basketball team in the

EuroBasket Division B The EuroBasket Division B was the second-ranked tier of the bi-annual EuroBasket competition. In this Division the teams played-off in order to get a promotion into Division A. Conversely, the two worst performing teams of Division A were relegate ...

. In 2009, he led Ireland's team in scoring, and all players in group B, with a scoring average of 20.5 points per game, including scoring 32 points against Georgia in the qualifying rounds.

Personal life

McGarth married Dominican model

Arlenis Sosa Arlenis Sosa Peña (born May 7, 1989) is a Dominican Republic model. She is the current spokesmodel for Lancôme and appeared in the 2008 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. Early life and discovery Sosa was born in Copey, a district of Pepillo Sal ...

in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic in June 2015.

Early life and high school career

College career

Professional career

National team career

Personal life

References

External links