Former Wisconsin Badgers Guard Walt McGrory Dies Of Cancer, Age 24

Walt McGrory, a native Minnesotan who excelled at Edina High School in the Twin Cities and a former guard for the Wisconsin Badgers, passed away from cancer.

Former Wisconsin Badgers Guard Walt McGrory Dies Of Cancer, Age 24

McGrory joined Wisconsin as a walk-on in 2017 and played for the club for four years. Just before his fifth season of basketball at Wisconsin, in August 2021, he received a diagnosis of osteosarcoma, a kind of bone cancer.

A tumor in his leg kept coming back despite treatment and many limb salvage operations. On April 7, 2023, medical professionals removed a portion of McGrory’s leg, but the cancer had already spread to his lungs by then.

Before he signed with the Badgers in 2017, the Minnesota native was a standout player in high school, having graduated from Edina. Despite having little playing time during his four seasons at Madison, McGrory was well-liked by the team for his contagious smile and excellent locker room manners. The guard played on Wisconsin’s Big Ten championship squad in 2020.

After a two-year fight with a very uncommon and deadly form of cancer, he lost away in his early 20s.

“It was heartwarming to go up there and just see him again,” Wahl said last month. “Kind of like old times, because we would all hang out together.

“We talked a little bit about what was going on with him, but mostly it was just to visit, getting him to laugh and chop it up.”

McGrory started a GoFundMe page in September, and fans and friends helped raise more than $136,000.

“There have been lonely days and dark nights of the soul. But I have never been more optimistic than now. There is a cure out there,” McGrory wrote in his September announcement. “I have been knocked down countless times, but I will keep picking myself up until we find it. This disease has taken a lot from me, but it will never take my uncompromising will.”

More than $136,000 was raised through the internet campaign to assist McGrory’s family in paying for his life-saving comprehensive medical care. He said that his insurance would only pay for research trials as all other known treatment regimens for osteosarcoma were ineffective. As a result, he started a GoFundMe campaign to assist with the cost of these novel, experimental therapies.

With 2,126 career points, McGrory broke the all-time scoring record at Edina High School. He averaged 26.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 6.0 assists in a game as a senior.

 

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