NCAA Basketball: 10 best players from the District of Columbia of last decade

3. Rodney McGruder – Kansas State

After starring in high school in both DC and Florida, McGruder found his way to Kansas State. The 6’4 guard arrived in Manhattan in 2009 and spent his entire four-year career with the Wildcats, playing under Frank Martin and later Bruce Weber. His first season saw him coming off the bench, but he was a major contributor in his final three collegiate seasons.

McGruder followed up a meager freshman campaign by averaging 11.1 points and 5.9 rebounds as a sophomore. During his junior year, he scored 30 points in an NCAA Tournament win over Southern Miss. He averaged just over 15 points per game in his final two collegiate seasons and helped lead the Wildcats to a Big 12 regular season title in 2013. He played in nine total NCAA Tournament games as a Wildcat and was certainly a big part of the team’s great success at the start of the last decade.

He was three times honored on the All-Big 12 team, earning First Team honors by his senior year. He was also on the conference’s All-Defense team as a junior, establishing himself as one of the conference’s best backcourt defenders. Initially undrafted, McGruder worked his way into the NBA and has spent parts of six seasons on NBA rosters, most recently as a member of the Detroit Pistons.