When the clock struck zero on April 6 and the University of Michigan had taken down the University of Connecticut to win the national championship, Roddy Gayle Jr. had made history.
It was history for more than just his school. It was history for his family, friends and the city he grew up in.
Gayle. became the first Niagara Falls player to win a Division I basketball national championship.
“Being from Niagara Falls, to show people that it’s possible to really do things that haven’t been done before,” Gayle said. “So really good to never really give up, always trust in yourself and anything is possible, especially coming from a small town like Niagara Falls.”
Gayle’s college career officially ended, he was overcome with emotion. He found his parents and hugged them, thanking them for everything that they have done for him to make that moment possible.
Before this season, Gayle’s best run in the NCAA Tournament came last year when Michigan lost to Auburn in the Elite Eight. But this year’s Wolverines squad was determined to take the next step. They were not satisfied and that hunger was visible to Gayle during summer workouts.
He knew the team was gelling together on and off the floor and that they could go on a deep run and deliver Michigan their first national championship since 1989.
Gayle did his part mostly coming off the bench in his 39 games, averaging 7.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.
The journey has helped make Gayle into a leader for his teams, which is something that has been noticed by his teammates including junior Elliott Cadeau who spoke to the assembled media about Gayle after Michigan beat Arizona in the Final Four on April 4.
During his career, Ohio State and Michigan won a combined 100 games and Gayle’s total points in those games were 962 points as compared to his 326 points in 46 losses. His game rose to another level when the lights were the brightest. In 23 postseason games, Gayle averaged 10.2 points per game.
“As soon as we got here, he showed us the culture of Michigan,” Cadeau said in the national semifinal post-game press conference. “He set the tone for all of us. He taught us so much. And just having a guy we can always rely on that, like, no matter if he’s hitting shots or not hitting shots, we can always rely on him to do what he does. So it’s always great to have a player like that on the team, for sure.”
Now that Gayle’s college career is over, he is eager for the next level. He is finishing up his classwork and preparing to leave in the coming days to start working out in Brooklyn in preparation for the NBA Draft.
Gayle will be working out with his agency, Roc Nation Sports — founded by rapper Jay-Z — where he has had an NIL sponsorship since 2002, as he will be looking to get in the gym in front of NBA teams.
“I expect to have lots of workouts,” Gayle said. “I expect it to be ups and downs as far as this process. But … I’m built to last, prepared for anything and everything.”
As he goes through the pre-draft process, Gayle is talking to some of his former teammates that have found success in the NBA like Brice Sensabaugh. It’s a process that he said has been helpful for him to understand what it will be like.
While he does not yet have a firm understanding of where or if he will be drafted, Gayle is ready to take whatever opportunity he can get and make the most of it. He just wants NBA teams to know that he will do whatever it takes to make his teams successful.
“Even when things wasn’t going the way I wanted it to, at the end of the day I didn’t quit,” Gayle said. “I didn’t give up. I just stayed the course no matter what and I think that’s really good looking in the mirror … that’s something that would stick with me for the rest of my life, knowing that I sacrificed so much to become a national champion.”