Friday Features: Josh Magette Goes From UAH to the NBA
By Chris Megginson
On Oct. 18, 2017, Josh Magette pulled up on the left wing and hit a 3-pointer to extend a lead for his team on the road in the season-opener. It wasn’t any season opener though, it was Magette’s NBA debut as an Atlanta Hawk. Dirk Nowitzki, a 13-time NBA All-Star, former league and NBA Finals MVP, inbounded the ball for the Dallas Mavericks.
“It was pretty incredible to have my parents, my brother and fiancée there. (The shot) was icing on the cake. It was a night I will never forget for sure,” Magette said. “You grow up watching all of these guys and Dirk is a legend. To be on the same court was awesome. I was just happy to be out there and kind of arrived.”
It was the first NBA moment by a University of Alabama in Huntsville men’s basketball player and the culmination of a six-year professional journey for Magette, which has included time in Holland, a stint in Los Angeles with the NBA D-League (now G-League), a year in Greece and then the last two years back in the D-League in Los Angeles. This past offseason, after performing in the Summer League in Las Vegas with the Hawks, Magette was offered Atlanta’s first-ever two-way contract, which means he’d split time between the Hawks and the franchise’s G-League BayHawks team in Erie, Pennsylvania.
He played in eight games for the Hawks in the first few weeks of the season before joining the team in Erie, where he’s averaging 10.2 assists per game. Magette returned to the NBA for one game in January and one in February before returning to the Hawks for a short stint in early March, including a trip to Chicago where he recorded seven points and eight assists in 22 minutes on March 11.
“It’s been a dream come true. The culmination of the last 20 years of playing basketball, especially the last six of my professional career. It’s something I never would have imagined happening, but obviously it’s something you have to pinch yourself sometimes to remind you where you’re at and how far you’ve come,” Magette said.
UAH Head Coach Lennie Acuff says Magette has been a great ambassador for UAH, the Gulf South Conference and NCAA Division II, but he says to understand the journey, one must first understand how it began.
After helping guide Spain Park High School in Hoover, Alabama to the 6A State Finals as a 5-foot-10, 140-pound junior in 2007, Magette was viewed mainly as a potential walk-on. Acuff was among those who didn’t see him on the court as a freshman in 2008-09, but offered him a scholarship to UAH – the only offer Magette received.
“Our plan was to redshirt him, but within two weeks of being on our campus, our older guys started coming to me and saying, ‘Coach he’s got to play. He’ll give us the best chance to win.’ As we got into practice in October they were validated for sure.”
In game four of his UAH career, Magette gained his first collegiate start in Jackson, Tennessee at NAIA team Lambuth University, recording 13 points and four assists in 30 minutes. It was the first of 121-straight starts for Magette, as he went on to log nearly 4,000 minutes in his Chargers career and recorded 1,465 points, a GSC-record 878 assists, 604 rebounds and GSC-record 268 steals.
His GSC-record 295 assists during his senior year led to being named Co-Player of the Year in the Gulf South Conference, capping his college honors, which included 2009 GSC East Freshman of the Year, three-time All-Conference selection and two-time First Team NCAA Division II All-American.
The numbers added up quick for Magette at UAH, playing alongside 2011 GSC East Player of the Year Zane Campbell and 2013 GSC Player of the Year Jaime Smith to help guide the Chargers to three GSC titles and three NCAA appearances, including back-back DII Elite Eights.
“Our program had been really competitive at the conference and regional level, but what he and all the guys who played in the program at the time did made our program relative nationally,” Acuff said. “He was the catalyst.”
Magette is proud to now carry the UAH name into the NBA.
“It’s very special. I know how many good players have come through the UAH program, even on our teams we had then with Jaime and Zane. I know how good those guys are. It’s really good for the university, and for Coach Acuff to maybe use that going forward. We’ve had some really good players and it shows what we’ve accomplished the last 10 years,” Magette said.
Acuff has enjoyed Magette’s journey, including a trip to Atlanta to watch him play in the fall. He says his point guard returns to visit with the team as much as he can, and the two have text often through the years to help navigate the ups and downs – some moments which other players may have quit.
“He keeps moving the needle. And I’ll never bet against him,” Acuff said. “It’s hard to put into words how proud we are for him and how happy we are for him. He’s handled it like a champ. He’s a great role model.
“He’s an amazing story of perseverance. He’s an amazing story of never giving in. He’s an amazing story of you can’t judge a book by his cover … He’s a great testament in what you want your children to know that when you get knocked down you get back up.”
Magette said he’s not once thought about cutting his journey short.
“I’m having fun and truly enjoy playing the game every year. It hasn’t really felt like a job for me. I get to go out and play basketball,” Magette said. “I felt like every year I was getting closer to getting that shot at the NBA. I felt like I was improving and gaining ground on achieving a dream. I didn’t feel like giving up on that until I saw it all the way through or until I regressed. I felt like I was on the rise at all times.”
He says the messages he’s received from former college and professional teammates have been encouraging. As the only D2 player to begin the season on an NBA roster, travel has stood out the most during the transition, going from eight-hour bus trips in college to now flying private with an NBA team.
The travel is a bulk of Magette’s 2017-18 season, as he says he is racking up his frequent flyer miles to bounce between the BayHawks and Hawks.
“It’s kind of a fluid situation. Whenever they need me at Atlanta is when I come, be it an injury or resting guys,” Magette said. “It’s been some crazy travel, but it’s all worth it. I’ll travel anywhere to get in an NBA game.”
On Wednesday, March 14, Magette was transferred back to the Erie BayHawks to join the team in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Thursday. He recorded yet another G-League double-double with 15 points and 10 assists in a loss to Grand Rapids, but Erie remains atop the Southeast Division standings. Magette expects to rejoin the Atlanta Hawks for Saturday’s game in Milwaukee.
“We’ve had a good year in Erie. I’m proud of the work we’ve done and put ourselves in a position to make the playoffs up there. That’s something I pride myself on and being able to win games, and getting time in Atlanta is what this is all about, proving I can do it on the biggest stage,” Magette said. “I’ve established myself, I think, at the G-League level, I think the next step for me is to do it at the NBA level where the players are that much better.”
While Magette may not know week-to-week which jersey he’ll be wearing within the franchise, one date he can keep locked on his calendar for 2017-18 is his wedding to Christina Kaplan in LA this August.
“I can’t say enough about how supportive she’s been, because she’s been my rock through all of the last two years. She’s been great.”
Follow Megginson on Twitter @jcmeggs. Email comments to megginsonjc@gmail.com.
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2017-18 Friday Features Archive
September 1 |
Mississippi College
September 8 |
Montevallo
September 15 |
Valdosta State
September 22 |
West Georgia
September 29 |
Alabama Huntsville
October 6 |
Union
October 13 |
West Alabama
October 20 |
West Florida
October 27 |
Delta State
November 3 |
Christian Brothers
November 10 |
Shorter
November 17 |
North Alabama
November 24 |
Lee
December 1 |
AUM
December 8 |
West Florida
Decemeber 15 |
Mississippi College
December 22 |
Lee
December 29 |
West Alabama
January 5 |
Valdosta State
January 12 |
Christian Brothers
January 19 |
Montevallo
January 26 |
AUM
February 2 |
Mississippi College
February 9 |
West Florida
February 16 |
North Alabama
February 23 |
Alabama Huntsville
March 2 |
Broadcasters
March 9 |
Delta State