Men’s Basketball: UL’s McGuire wants it known he’s ‘a two-sport athlete’

Tim Buckley, The Advertiser, February 19, 2016

 

Ragin’ Cajuns point guard Elijah McGuire, a star UL football player, plays defense in a January win over Texas State.(Photo: Buddy Delahoussaye/Special to The Advertiser)

 

 

 

Ragin’ Cajuns power forward Bryce Washington recently was asked what it’s like to watch Elijah McGuire play without shoulder pads.

“It’s weird,” Washington said. “It’s really weird.”

Not to McGuire, though.

Basketball comes naturally to him.

And that’s why the 2014 Sun Belt Conference (football) Player of the Year wanted to give it a go — joining the UL basketball team in January — before turning back to his main gig.

“It’s very fun,” McGuire, who is on the road with the 14-10 Cajuns for Saturday’s game at Texas State, said while speaking publicly about his decision for the first time after a practice earlier this week. “Bringing back ol’ times.

“For me to get the opportunity at this point in my career — I’ve been playing (college) football for the past three years — it’s a blessing.”

While attending Vandebilt Catholic in Houma, there was a long time McGuire figured he’d spend all of his college days shooting hoops.

Something else, however, got in the way.

“That’s what I wanted to do coming out of high school,” the UL running back said. “I wanted to play basketball.

“But my success in football was so strong, a lot of schools backed off me basketball-wise. (They) thought I was just focusing on football. So I just let it go.

“From that point on, I just focused on football,” McGuire added. “(But) I told myself, ‘Before I graduate from college, I want to the opportunity to get back on the hardwood one more time.’”

When he first arrived in Lafayette, Cajuns coach Bob Marlin joked McGuire was the first UL football player he’d pick for his team.

Or maybe he wasn’t kidding.

“I actually talked (then) with (Marlin), and he asked me if I wanted to play, and I said, ‘I would, Coach, but, you know, it ain’t up to me,’” McGuire said. “But I did have it in the back of my mind.”

Early on, UL football coach Mark Hudspeth wasn’t about to let it happen. The focus needed to be on football, and that’s where it was.

McGuire was named Sun Belt Freshman of the Year in 2013, when he averaged a national-high 8.4 yards per carry and the 9-4 Cajuns beat Tulane in the New Orleans Bowl.

He won his SBC Player of the Year award after rushing for 1,264 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2014, when this time 9-4 UL beat Nevada in the New Orleans Bowl.

McGuire ran for 1,058 yards and 13 TDs last year, but the Cajuns finished 4-8 and didn’t go to a bowl for the first time since 2010.

It gave him a chance time to think.

He also took time after the 2015 season to submit his name to the NCAA Draft Advisory Board for advice. The response: “Retur

to school.”

So he did.

But there was unfinished work beyond books and football. His old high school basketball coach reminded him of that while McGuire was in Houma for the holidays.

“(He) said, ‘If you go back, just try to play basketball,’” McGuire said. “The whole break, I just thought about it and told myself, ‘You know what? I’m gonna ask Coach Hud, ‘Can I play?’”

The running back/point guard booked an appointment.

“When I came back (after Christmas break),” he said, “the first thing I did was I talked to Hud (Hudspeth).

“He was for it. I really thank him for that — just giving me the opportunity to get back on the court, have more fun.

“At the end of my career,” McGuire added, “I want to tell people that I was a two-sport athlete in college. … It’s just something I always wanted to do.”

Before McGuire could, however, he also had to convince Marlin that joining the team in midseason was a good idea.

It wasn’t hard.

McGuire already knew several Cajun basketball players, having played against Shawn Long when the star UL big man was in the same district with Morgan City High as Vandebilt Catholic, and having played AAU ball with both Frank Bartley IV, who is sitting out this season after transferring from BYU, and Johnathan Stove.

More importantly, Marlin knew him.

After a few practices, the two met in the coach’s office.

“He said, ‘Coach, hopefully I can defend and get an assist or two here or there, maybe score a basket,’” Marlin said.

It was just what Marlin wanted to hear.

“Me and Coach Bob, we sat down and talked,” McGuire said.

“I told him, ‘I understand if you don’t trust me on the floor right now. I know I’m just joining the team. But I know my role.’ He’s not expecting me to score a ton of points a night. I just want to go out there and affect the team in some sort of way — play defense, get the momentum swinging.”

McGuire has done just that, quickly getting Cajun coaches and teammates to believe in him despite the relative unfamiliarity.

“He really works hard in practice,” Washington said. “He can definitely help us with his speed, on defense especially. He can really guard.”

“He’s done a good job, and he’s more than a defensive player too,” Marlin added. “He certainly can help us, and his speed is outstanding.”

McGuire is averaging 1.3 points and 0.6 rebounds with two steals, two assists and no turnovers in 3.6 minutes per game over eight games so far.

In that span, UL is 6-2.

McGuire had a steal in his Cajun debut, a Jan. 23 win over Troy. He knocked down a 3-pointer while logging a season-high seven minutes in a win over Arkansas State.

And he was brought on in a crucial late-game defensive situation in a loss to Arkansas-Little Rock, and wound up scoring a bucket off a turnover.

“We have confidence in him, certainly, in those situations,” Marlin said of a special defensive-inbounds unit that he equated to an on-side kick team.

“We know he’s quick and explosive, low to the ground, a good center of gravity. … He playing better and better, and his role, hopefully, will increase.”

It must if McGuire is to help even more.

That’s because this, without a doubt, is his one and only college basketball season.

Other matters — his senior season, followed by a potential pro football career — await.

“This is it. I’m wrapping it up,” said McGuire, who’ll join the Cajun football team for the conclusion of spring practice whenever UL’s basketball season ends. “Around this time next year, hopefully, I’ll be training somewhere to get a big opportunity in my life that I always wanted.”

LAGNIAPPE: Long needs four blocks to become UL’s career blocked-shots leader. … At 65.4 points per game, Texas State has the Sun Belt’s second-lowest scoring offense. Only Georgia State averages fewer (64.8). UL continues to lead at 81.4 ppg. … Washington continues to lead the SBC in field-goal percentage (59.8); teammate Kasey Shepherd continues to lead the league in free-throw percentage (90.6).

UL (14-10, 10-5 in the Sun Belt) at TEXAS STATE (10-13, 4-10)

WHAT: Sun Belt Conference game

WHERE: Strahan Coliseum (7,200); San Marcos, Texas

WHEN: 4:30 p.m. Saturday

RADIO: KHXT 107.9 FM with Jay Walker

TV: None

ABOUT THE OPPONENT: This closes a four-game homestand for Texas State, which is coming off a 76-57 loss to UL Monroe on Thursday night and has dropped six of its last seven. … The Bobcats’ only win during that stretch came at home over Appalachian State. … Leading scorers: Emani Gant (12.9 points per game), Kavin Gilder-Tilbury (12.2 ppg), Ethan Montalvo (10.7).

ABOUT THE CAJUNS: This is the second outing in a stretch with four in a row on the road for UL, which fell in overtime Thursday night at Texas-Arlington for its second straight loss. … C/PF Shawn Long leads UL in scoring (19.3 ppg; third in the SBC) and the Sun Belt in rebounds (13.1 per game) and blocks (1.70 per game). … Long had a 19-point, 14-rebound double-double, PF Devonta Walker scored 16 and PG Jay Wright added 14  when UL beat Texas State 80-54 last Jan. 28 at the Cajundome.