2022 Wing Gradey Dick Discusses His Game & UNC
Gradey Dick’s phone exploded on June 15 when class of 2022 basketball prospects could start hearing from college coaches. There was no shortage of inquiries for the multidimensional wing from Bel Aire, KS.
Among the schools that called was North Carolina, and while Dick doesn’t have an offer from the Tar Heels, he’s certainly on the radar. Among his other offers include from Kansas, Baylor, Oklahoma, Creighton, Purdue, Texas Tech and many others.
As a sophomore this past season, Dick averaged 20.3 points, five rebounds and 2.3 assists per contest and was named the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year. At 6-foot-7 and 195 pounds, Dick is rated the No. 31 overall prospect nationally in the class.
Dick is set to attend Sunrise Christian Academy after playing his first two years at Wichita Collegiate.
THI caught up with Dick to find out how he’s going about working on his game during the shutdown this spring and summer and with his recruitment. Here is that conversation:
Q: First thing I'm curious about is what have you been able to do during the shutdown to improve your game?
DICK: "Yeah, so I was really lucky when everything was shut down because my dad is friends with this guy that has a court in his basement so I was able to do all my workouts everyday there. We also had a at home weights program that I did. Main thing was staying in shape and keep getting my shots up."
Q: In his basement? That's pretty cool. So you had plenty of opportunity and time to keep improving and refining your skills? What did you focus on?
DICK: "Yea h,his basement but mostly just getting a bunch of 3’s up and really focusing on distance shooting while being tired so I would move a lot and run to different spots to get fatigued so I can kind of simulate like I would be in a game."
Q: Nice. So, what are the two or three things you do best on the court?
DICK: "I’d say I’m a 6’7 versatile wing that can shoot it but also really finish above the rim and my size and length really helps me to guard multiple positions."
Q: Rivals has you listed at 6-6, so you're up to 6-7 now?
DICK: "Yeah, I’m 6’7, 195 now.
Q: I know you played a lot of point this past season, was that because your team had a need or you have a lot of playmaking in your game, too, or both?
DICK: "I’ve always played point because I see the court really well but at Sunrise next year and college later, I’ll be mostly be a wing because of my size and shooting."
Q: So, you switched high schools, what is the reasoning behind that?
DICK: "My old school, Wichita Collegiate is a smaller school in Kansas that plays more local schools so I wanted to go prep and play a national schedule because I felt that would really help my game so it came down to IMG and Sunrise and the fact that Sunrise is literally 10 mins from my house and I already have really good relationships with Coach Luke and the guys like Kendall Brown and Ty Berry so I felt that going against that talent everyday in practice would also help my game."
Q: Makes sense. So, onto your recruitment. You got a lot of phone calls on June 15, and among them was from UNC. What UNC coaches do you speak with the most and how have those conversations gone?
DICK: “So I’ve been talking to Coach Robinson the most, he did call on June 15 but we’ve been talking way before then but that’s when he would have to tell one of my coaches to tell me to call him because he couldn’t call me yet because of the rule.”
Q: What has Coach Robinson said they like about your game and how you fit in with what they do?
DICK: “They like my versatility and he sees me as a wing because I have that similar size to their wings in the past.”
Q: What do you know and like about the program, it’s history and Roy Williams?
DICK: “What caught my eye was their play style and how they use their wings in transition but obviously I really like the school tradition there and the historic background.”
Q: Is UNC one of the schools you’d like to visit once visits are allowed? And what would an offer from Roy Williams mean?
DICK: “Yeah I’d love to visit, but an offer from Coach Williams would be huge because of what they’ve been able to do in the past with their program. One of my coaches asked me awhile ago before I was even recruited by anyone what were some schools I’d like to learn more about and after seeing their play style and everything, UNC was one of the top ones for me.”