Damion Grant: Heart of a Champion

This work by boxofmess.com/ is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at boxofmess.com/.
Attribution No Derivatives
This license allows for redistribution, commercial and non-commercial, as long as it is passed along unchanged and in whole, with credit to boxofmess.com

The 2005 North Carolina Men’s Basketball team was one of the best there ever was in Carolina history. The team led by Raymond Felton, Sean May and Marvin Williams beat Illionis for the National Title. One player who struggled to make it on the court but enjoyed the win was Damion Grant. Grant was a big man who struggled with many injuries during his time at UNC but was an all around class act. After that win, the basketball world lost a connection with him. We found Damion and caught up with him to find out how the Carolina Title win was like for him and what he is up to these days.

You are originally from Jamaica. How did you wind up in America? My grandfather lived in NJ, knew a coach up there and long story short, I decided to give the game a shot.

Before going to UNC for Basketball you had only played 2 years of organized basketball. How was this possible? I played soccer and ran track most of my life, so I was always able to run and jump. I was a lot quicker than most big men so everything else just fell into place.

Being recruited by Indiana, UNC and Illinois to name a few teams must have been amazing. Why did you choose North Carolina in the end? Well I read that the average?GPA of a freshmen there was at least a 3.8, and the basketball portion speaks for itself. I knew I would be challenged in both aspects, I didn’t want to take the easy way.

Injuries really held your career down. Where do you think you would be now if this was not the case? Every college basketball player would like to think that they would be playing in the NBA if everything worked out just right. I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, not sure what the reason is sometimes haha, but you have to have faith that it was for the best.

You were a part of North Carolina’s 2005 National Championship team. How exciting was it to be a part of that team? It was an unreal feeling, sharing that with my teamates knowing how far we came and everything we had been through made it more worth while. It couldn’t have been a better match up either, the number 1 and 2 teams in the country playing for a championship.

You were recruited by Matt Doeghrety but for the last two seasons played for Roy Williams. How are the two different in your mind? Coach D recruited me, he went to Jamaica to meet my family, that meant a lot to me, I am always going to be one of his players. There was a big difference in coaching styles between the two, but that is to be expected.

Is basketball still a part of your life these days? No I’ve stepped away from the game for several reasons. I would love to get into coaching one day soon though…

What are you currently doing now a days? Now a days I’m an assistant rental manager at enterprise at the airport. I’ve been doing that for about 2 years now and I like it.

Do you still keep in touch with guys like Marvin Williams,?Raymond Felton and Sean May? No not really, I talk to Marvin more than anyone since he is still in the area, I talk to everyone else every now and then.

In your mind, how did you leave your mark on the game and at UNC? When I decided to stop playing basketball, coach Williams said to me that “he had never had a player fight so hard to stay healthy and give it all they had. In his 15 years of coaching I was the only one that he had seen work so hard to try to overcome it” that’s not necessarilly leaving a mark but it’s something.

Over the years, one characteristic was never questioned about Damion Grant. This was his work ethic. As you can tell from the last question answered, Roy Williams never questioned the work ethic of Grant. Coming back from injury after injury was tough but Damion never gave up. That is something we can all preach, a good work ethic! We want to thank Damion Grant for the interview and wish him the best of luck with whatever career he pursues in the near future.

Note- All interviews are done through Facebook/Email/Text/Call/Myspace/Etc. All people are REAL. No fakes here!

Thanks to Damion’s Facebook for the photo.