Players past and present and other members of the Wisconsin Badger clan donate to help Walt McGrory now that health insurance will not.
By Peter Cameron, BADGER STRIPES
Walt McGrory, a 6’3” guard from the Minneapolis area, walked on to the Badgers and played for the team from 2017-2021. After graduating with his bachelor’s degree in economics, he intended to take his fifth Covid year at the University of South Dakota and play one last season of college basketball.
Before he could, he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer most frequently striking children and young adults. McGrory announced his diagnosis on Instagram in August of 2021.
His medical team tried to save his left leg, but a tumor growing behind his knee ultimately meant the leg had to be amputated at the knee earlier this year, McGrory said. The team also surgically removed 20 tumors from his lungs.
Last month, McGrory announced on Instagram that he had used up “all the known treatment protocols that cure osteosarcoma.”
“None of these options have helped me,” he wrote.
He is moving onto experimental treatments that have not been through clinical trials. Insurance will not cover these, he wrote, so he set up a GoFundMe fundraiser, asking for $100,000.
“Honestly, I’m tired of telling this story of my past,” he wrote in an Instagram post announcing the GoFundMe on Sep. 15. “What excites me is telling the story of my future. It’s close, I can feel it.”
In its first week, the GoFundMe raised more than the $100,000 goal, with many former and current players donating. It has raised more than $115,000 so far.
Donations also poured in from Badger families like Yoder, Soderberg, Davison and Reuvers.
Current players Carter Gilmore and Connor Essegian each made small donations.
Many members of the McGrory family made significant donations.
Many others donated anonymously.
In honor of his friend, former Badger teammate Nate Reuvers told WISC-TV he would wear #3, McGrory’s number, instead of his normal #35, when he suited up for his professional team in Italy last season. Reuvers will play for Valencia in Spain this upcoming season.
Creighton head coach Greg McDermott and Stevens Point native Sam Hauser, who played for Marquette and is now in the NBA with the Boston Celtics, donated as well.
The Kollege Klub bar in Madison made a $500 donation.
McGrory was a two-time Academic All-Big Ten student at Wisconsin, where he was part of the 2019-2020 Big Ten champion team. He finished his high school career as Edina’s all-time leading scorer with 2,126 points.
Starting Aug. 1, 2024, the NCAA will offer former student athletes two years of post-playing-eligibility health insurance coverage for injuries that occurred while playing college sports.
It’s unlikely McGrory would have qualified for that, but the coverage doesn’t start for another 11 months anyway.
Other ex-players who donated
- TJ Schlundt
- Jordan Smith
- Andy van Vliet
- Jon Bryant
- Brett Valentyn
- Matt Ferris
- Wquinton Smith
Click this link to donate.
Badger Stripes is a sports news organization that provides in-depth coverage of Wisconsin athletics. Follow us on Facebook.
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