by Brian Abate, Chris DiGeronimo, and Gianluca Milea
“Never say never because limits, like fears, are often just illusions.” - Michael Jordan
Throughout sports history, many young athletes have been told that their dreams were unrealistic.
Michael Jordan was cut from his varsity high school basketball team. Tom Brady was the 199th player drafted in 2000. Jaylen Brown’s teacher told him she would “look him up in the Cobb County Jail in 5 years.”
The best athletes always seem to have some type of negativity and struggle thrown their way acting as roadblocks to achieving their goals and future success.
We often hear the stories of those who were able to overcome those challenges and attain greatness. But what about the ones who still feel like they have more left to prove?
Jeffrey Gary was told he would never play Division I basketball. He was told he was too small and would not be able to find success at the next level. Just a few years and many, many hours in the gym later, he’s proving his doubters wrong.
On this edition of Scrambling we dive into the life of Jeffrey Gary, a guard for the Mercer Bears. Since transferring from UNC Wilmington to Mercer, Gary has averaged 11.5 points, 2.1 assists, and 2.3 rebounds and while he’s put up some pretty impressive numbers, none of that matters to him as much as his team’s success. We cover everything from his high school coach’s doubt to his ultimate goal of making an NCAA tournament (Duke beware, the Bears are back in town)...
Q: You arguably had your best college season last year at Mercer, did you change anything in your preparation that helped you achieve that success?
A: As far as preparation, I would say I prepared the same way for the most part I just learned how to play at my own pace and not let other players speed me up. I feel like I’ve always approached the game with the same serious mindset.
Q: What are your goals and aspirations for next season?
A: My goals and aspirations for this season is to make the NCAA tournament. I’m not concerned with shot attempts or points, I really just want to make the tournament. I want all my teammates to have great seasons as well. That’s my number one priority.
Q: What led to your decision to transfer to Mercer?
A: What led to my decision to transfer to Mercer was pretty simple, my uncle is the head coach here. I transferred to a Juco in Wyoming for 1 semester, and picked up tons of interest and a couple offers during that redshirt season, just from coaches coming to practice, as well as film from my freshman year. But once my uncle got the job from Purdue, he called and asked if I’d like to play for him. Playing for family at the Division 1 level is a rare opportunity, so that was the main factor in my decision.
Q: How difficult was it to sit out after transferring? Was it tough to stay in game shape?
A: It was very difficult to sit out half the season, largely due to the fact that it was up in the air for so long. I had to sit all of the preseason which was tough because I could contribute to the team in a meaningful way. But it gave me a chance to gain weight and get stronger. It did make it a lot harder on me though because my legs weren’t fully under me going into conference play.
Q: A video has surfaced of your high school coach telling you you’d never play at the Division I level. Tell us about this experience and how you used that as fuel to motivate you.
A: With regards to the video surfacing about my high school, he was actually an interim head coach as my old coach had been fired. He actually called me and apologized for saying what he said and I told him I held no resentment for him and that I wished him the best. But my personality is to hold onto things and use them as motivation and he understood that so there are no negative emotions there.
Q: Do you have any favorite players or players that you’ve looked up to?
A: My favorite player is actually Bradley Beal, and I don’t know if I’d say I look up to him, but I definitely watch film on his game and try and emulate it.
Q: What were your immediate thoughts when the season was cancelled due to Covid-19? How have you been staying busy and what has been your favorite part of the down time?
A: My thoughts on this whole Covid situation are that we all just need to take it seriously for this short amount of time, so that it can run its course and we can get back to playing normally.
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