The college basketball world is in mourning.
Walt McGrory, a former guard for the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Badgers team, has died after a two-year battle with bone cancer. He was 24.
“Walt became one with the Divine on Saturday, December 16, 2023,” read a message posted on his Instagram page Dec. 18. “His soul was freed to continue his great mission — to live and help others live full, healthy lives. Walt has always known there is something greater out there. Something with the full power to shape the world.”
The Minneapolis native played with the Badgers from 2017 to 2021. And although he planned to play at the University of South Dakota starting that spring for what would have been his fifth and final season of college basketball—while also pursuing an MBA—his health took a turn.
That August, after noticing a hard lump on his left shin, he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a type of pediatric bone cancer rarely found in adults, according to the U.S. Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center.