Thursday, September 30, 2021 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The drive to the basket and reverse layup finish in traffic gave his team a two-possession lead. After a stop at the other end, Brandon McKissic bombed in a 3-pointer to put his team up three in the four-minute scrimmage Tuesday. McKissic, the sturdy combo guard, let everyone in the gym no who was in charge.
"TAKE THAT!"
His team won, and as the losers paid with their down-and-back penalty lap McKissic's across-the-gym verbal bombs continued. Much of it was directed at point guard Tyree Appleby, who took it in, shook his head and couldn't help himself but smile in McKissic's direction as he sprinted up the floor.
"GET IN SHAPE!" "I'M OVER HERE CRAMPING UP AND DOING THIS [STUFF]!" "GET IN SHAPE!"
Florida coach Mike White watched, listened, then broke into a smile. He couldn't help himself, either.
"Competitive as hell," White said. "I love it."
An hour or so earlier, it was McKissic who was running, along with the rest of the team, when a couple guys lost focus during a routine defensive drill. The squad was ordered to the baseline for a sprint, with McKissic screaming for everyone to "WAKE UP!" It was the first official practice of the 2021-22 Florida men's basketball preseason and not only were the sights (as in new players) different, so were the sounds. This is how it's going to be.
"I've been blessed with an extra year of college basketball and a chance to play at a place like this; a place like the University of Florida," McKissic said. "This is my last year of college basketball. I'm going to go all out every day and hold guys accountable. I came here for a reason. To win, that's it."
Defense is personal for Brandon McKissic (23). The Gators hope it's infectious, as well.
He's only been here three months, but the 6-foot-3, 200-pound McKissic, a transfer from Missouri-Kansas City, has announced himself (literally) as both a fiery voice and force to be reckoned with on both ends of the floor. McKissic left UMKC as the program's No. 9 all-time scorer (1,178 points) after averaging 11.0 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.2 steals per game over a four-year career when he started 86 of 107 games. He entered the transfer portal after a '20-21 campaign that was his best — 17.2 points on 51-percent shooting overall and 43 percent from distance — and included Summit League Defensive Player of the Year honors.
He also won just 48 games, lost 70 and played through a coaching change over those four seasons. The NCAA's universal free-COVID year and instant transfer opportunity sent McKissic looking for a chance to cap his collegiate experience as a winner while sizing himself up against the talents of the Southeastern Conference. It's an opportunity he's not taking lightly.
From the moment McKissic arrived on campus in June, he's been an engaging presence who's gotten along with everybody and been a workout warrior, putting on 15 pounds of muscle to a frame that is not unlike a free safety. Earlier this month, in fact, McKissic was visiting some family and friends in Jacksonville when he was approached in a mall by some patrons who asked if he played for the Jaguars.
No. For the Gators, he told them. They were curious why he wasn't with the team for the game that weekend. Basketball, he told them, not football.
"They were surprised," McKissic said.
Florida's coaches hope McKissic's physicality will be a shock to opponents, as well.
"He plays with so much ferocity and just really cares about getting stops on defense," said assistant coach Akeem Miskdeen, who works with the guards. "BMac is an energy-giver. He's talking all the time, even during stretching, and you'd rather have guys that you have to calm down than guys you have to encourage to speak up. And at 6-3 and 200, I mean, the guy is a pitbull."
Always has been, apparently.
McKissic grew up in Ferguson, Mo. Sound familiar? Yes, his mother remembers driving Brandon home from a club tournament during the riots that followed the Michael Brown shooting in 2014. It was around that time he chose to focus exclusively on basketball, when he could have gone in a variety of directions: football, soccer, even swimming.
Wait, what? Swimming?
"Yes, sir. Butterfly and backstroke," said mother Rhonda McKissic. "Even as a little boy, he was so lean and muscular."
Young Brandon McKissicexcelled at football and basketball in St. Louis, but eventually opted to pursue the latter.
Young Brandon played basketball at the YMCA, but his favorite sport was soccer — and he was really good at it too. At one point that was the direction Brandon thought about going, but he loved all the other sports so much, including football, that he just couldn't walk away. He played defensive back as a a freshman and sophomore at St. Louis University High —"I loved hitting people and just knocking them clean over," he said — but got just as fired up for the basketball season that put him on the floor against a crosstown foe by the name of Jayson Tatum.
In time, McKissic's high school basketball coach took his star aside and convinced him that he one day could make money if he made hoops a singular-sport focus. And so he did.
"He was always interested in football, which was scary to me," Rhonda McKissic said. "So that decision was a surprise. I legitimately thought he was going to play football in college."
Other basketball offers came from DePaul, Murray State and Missouri State, but McKissic struck up a relationship with the UMKC coach and chose to play just two hours from home. The team went 21-43 his first two seasons under Kareem Richardson, who was fired. McKissic pondered transferring between coaches, but stuck around for the arrival of Billy Donlan, who got the Kangaroos to 16-14 his first year, but it was back to a losing mark (11-13) in McKissic's senior year, which was also the program's first year jumping from the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) to the Summit League.
"He had to score more as a senior last year because they just didn't have much around him," Rhonda said.
Brandon McKissic(3) averaged 17.3 points during his '20-21 senior season at Missouri-Kansas City.
Example: Last January, UMKC went to Tulsa for conference games against Oral Roberts on consecutive nights. Yes, the same ORU team that went on to win the league and as a 15-seed ousted both second-seeded Ohio State and sixth-seeded UF from the NCAA Tournament. The two games basically were one-on-one matchups between McKissic and Golden Eagles point guard Max Abmas, who led the nation in scoring last season at 24.5 points per game (and killed the Gators in NCAA play). ORU won the first game 60-59. Abmas played all 40 minutes and scored 20 points on 9-for-15 shooting. McKissic also played all 40 minutes and scored 20 points on 7-for-15 shooting, but missed a game-wining 3-point try at the horn. The next night, both McKissic and Abmas went for 24 points, but the Roos prevailed 81-75.
When the season ended, and with the COVID-free season out there, McKissic took measure of his situation. Brandon and Rhonda McKissic
"For four years, he just accepted where he was and kept working on his skills," Rhonda said. "He felt like sometimes he wasn't challenged enough. With this move, he felt he wanted to be challenged."
Added McKissic: "I did my four years there and feel like I did everything I could for that program. I made a couple unselfish decisions while I was there, like staying through the coaching change, so I felt it was time to do something I wanted to do. Something for myself."
It came down to Florida, Oregon and Missouri, but the Gators were always in front, as far as McKissic was concerned. That's because White was the first call McKissic got when his name hit the transfer portal, with the UF coach in a full-court press from the jump.
"Coach White is why I'm here. He was the difference-maker," McKissic said. "When I answered the phone, he was like, 'Is this the Summit League Defensive Player of the Year and National Defensive Player of the Year candidate Brandon McKissic?' He went on to say that I was one of his favorite players in the [portal] and offered me on the spot. When [Kansas coach] Bill Self called he didn't do that. Man, that spoke to me. Coach White went shopping that day. He didn't just want to put me in the cart, he wanted to buy me."
McKissic was sold. He was on campus inside two months and immediately rekindled a relationship with Appleby. The two used to go at it during AAU tournaments, what with their teams from St. Louis and Little Rock (about five hours apart) often ending up facing one another in Midwest events.
What was McKissic like then?
"Exactly like he is now," Appleby said.
The present-day version is just bigger and louder. McKissic became an offseason weight-room maniac, going from 185 to 205 in just over a month, but has since knocked off five pounds to get to his rock-solid 200.
Rhonda visited recently and was struck by her son's new build. "Now that he's gotten all swole, I'm gonna have to pray for some people."
It won't take McKissic long to understand he's at a different level. Before the Gators even open their 18-game Southeastern Conference schedule, they'll face Florida State, Oklahoma and Maryland. He'll understand come Nov. 14 against the Seminoles — with their four 7-footers — that he's not in Kansas City (or the Summit) anymore.
UF, though, is not concerned about McKissic's move from mid-major to high-major competition.
"Defense translates to every level," Miskdeen said.
Former UF and current NBA standout Bradley Beal spoke to the Gators two weekends ago when he came to town for the Florida-Alabama football game. He watched McKissic blossom while playing for their hometown Bradley Beal Elite club team. The two shared a huge embrace when the Washington Wizards all-star guard entered the gym. Beal also offered a pretty good endorsement.
"Great kid, great addition to that team," Beal said. "He's got a real hunger for the game. Tenacious player who will always go hard, be coachable and have that attention to detail. You watch. He's going to be a home crowd favorite. And he'll probably be one of the best defensive players you've ever seen."
It's because of McKissic's defensive reputation, along with fellow fifth-year transfer and swingman Phlandrous Fleming Jr., the two-time Big South Defensive Player of the Year, and an older roster featuring 6-11 Colin Castleton protecting the rim, that White believes his '21-22 squad has a chance to be special on that end of the floor.
"I like our ceiling defensively," White said.
McKissic will be the chandelier. He has a pretty smile and terrific off-court demeanor, but when the lights come on and McKissic gets between the lines his personality changes.
"If you are not wearing the same jersey as me, I do not care who you are or how big you are. All I care about winning," he said. "If I have to put you on your neck three times I will put you on your neck. I don't care. I will run through a brick wall for this team."
