Although football was a family tradition, walk-on Wolfpack guard Joshua McGrew, business management sophomore, decided to take after his mother and play basketball.

BREAK WITH THE TRADITION

Sylvester McGrew, Joshua’s father, played outside linebacker and defensive end at Tulane under head coach Vince Gibson in the early 1980s. His junior year, the Green Wave went to the Hall of Fame Bowl and boasted a 7-4 record.

“He was a really hard-nosed and tough football player,” Gibson said.

In 1981, his father’s senior season, the Green Wave defense allowed the lowest total points for a Tulane team since the league expanded to the 11-game schedule. One of four linebackers with over a hundred tackles, ‘Sly’ McGrew helped his team crush Louisiana State University 48-7.

Gibson said off the field, “Sly was a quiet guy with a lot of class and a great work ethic – everybody liked him.”

McGrew’s brother, Sylvester McGrew III, played defensive end for St. Augustine, where he received All-American honors. He played college football for the University of Florida under former Saints defensive coordinator Ron Zook and McNeese State. After graduating, he spent a year playing with the Manchester Wolves arena football team before retiring because of recurring injuries.

Even though they played different sports, McGrew said his father supported him in all his endeavors. McGrew also learned from his father the fundamentals of staying in shape for competition.

Even though his father and brother played at the competitive level, McGrew said he “just wanted to do something different.” Smaller than his 6-foot-4, 270-pound brother, McGrew decided to play the game his mother, Bernetta Petty, had been so good at.

Petty grew up in Lafitte and played basketball at Fisher Middle and High School where she was awarded all-state and all-metro honors. “People still tell me to this day that if there had been a (Women’s National Basketball Association), she would have been in it,” McGrew said of his mother.

His biggest support system is his family in New Orleans, he said; he goes home several days a week to see them and to feed his dogs.

HIS JOURNEY HERE

McGrew attended St. Augustine in New Orleans and played basketball under the Purple Knights coach Bernard Griffith. McGrew said Griffith, more than any other coach, helped him in becoming a man, teaching him how to act both on and off the court.

“What he taught me gave me the upper hand in overcoming a lot of obstacles, not just in basketball, but in life,” McGrew said.

During his freshman year of college McGrew attended Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Ala. where he played basketball for part of the season.

After Hurricane Katrina he decided to come home to New Orleans and apply to Loyola. However, after grades and conflicting credit transfers prevented his acceptance, he enrolled at Delgado Community College where he raised his GPA and made the Dean’s List.

“My dad taught me when you start something, you finish … Never quit,” McGrew said.

After the semester at Delgado he received his acceptance letter to attend Loyola in the fall of 2007. Excited and relieved that he could return to a university education, McGrew accepted.

Almost a year since his last college game, McGrew joined the Loyola basketball team as a walk-on this semester. With a work ethic comparable to his father’s, McGrew spent the summer training for the season – working out, swimming and shooting three hundred jumpshots a day.

He has received a warm welcome from his teammates and already feels “like part of the family.” Even as a walk-on, he said they have treated him as an equal from the first practice on.

McGrew feels very comfortable with head coach Michael Giorlando. He said, “we can talk to about anything, including academics and life struggles.”

On the court, McGrew said he will excel in match-up situations against opposing guards and will patrol the perimeter for jumpshots. Like his father, he stays aggressive on defense to keep guards off balance.

Already, McGrew’s social life revolves around his teammates. They associate with the same friends and like to shoot pool at his favorite hangout, The Fox and Hound in Metairie.

In his downtime, McGrew likes to practice his other passion: painting realistic landscapes and interesting people he encounters throughout the day.

Steve Heath can be reached at [email protected]. Jaune Jackson can be reached at [email protected].