EDITOR’S NOTE: Since this story was published, Garrett Denbow messaged the Source and confirmed that he has made the San Diego Clippers G League roster. He said he will be in uniform this Friday when the team opens its season at home against the Rip City Remix (affiliate of the Portland Trail Blazers).
ASHLAND — Garrett Denbow has spent half of a decade being a basketball nomad.
On Oct. 26, the 2019 Ashland High School graduate – who played minutes on the hardcourt at three different colleges – put a shiny new pin in his well-traveled basketball map.
After excelling for two seasons as one of the country’s best outside shooters at NCAA Division II Anderson University (S.C.), Denbow was one of 62 players selected in the NBA G League Draft.
The 6-foot-6, 210-pound guard was chosen by the San Diego Clippers with the 27th pick. For the next few days, he will be a member of the team’s training camp roster, working out to earn a spot with the Clippers when they open their season Nov. 8.
“It’s always been my dream to play at the highest level, and everyone knows that’s the NBA,” Denbow said. “I’m going to do everything I can to get there.
“I just have to control what I can control and I’m hoping to be on the roster and having a huge impact on the team moving forward,” he said.
The 2024-25 season marks the 24th year of play in the G League, formerly known as the NBA Development League. There now are 31 G League teams, with all 30 NBA teams featuring an owned or operated G League affiliate.
The San Diego Clippers are affiliated with the Los Angeles Clippers.
In a way, it is similar to Major League Baseball’s minor league system, although not all players on G League rosters are eligible to be elevated to the NBA.
If Denbow makes the San Diego team (he said 12 of the 15 players in training camp get a spot), he will have a one-year contract with the G League.
Since he did not go through the NBA Draft process this year, he said he would not be eligible to play in the NBA in 2024-25. But Denbow said if he makes the San Diego team and has a good season, he could enter next summer’s NBA Draft and could be selected by any team.
All of it can get a bit complicated to follow, but Denbow is trying to keep things as simple as possible for himself.
The fact that he has gotten to this point is a testament to his work ethic and resilience.
Denbow finished his career at Ashland High School as an All-Ohioan in 2019. He stands sixth in career points at AHS (1,109). The Arrows were 15-8 in his senior season after putting together the biggest turnaround in program history following a 2-21 campaign the previous year.
“He was one of those kids who you could tell was going to be a late-bloomer,” said Ashland head coach Jason Hess, who had Denbow as a freshman in his first season leading the program. “He did not come into his freshman year with the physique that some other kids have had where they matured early – and that was a good sign for (basketball) longevity for Garrett.
“But he was always able to shoot the basketball. He had a smooth shot and he was always very skilled.”
At the time of his graduation, Denbow’s 479 points as a senior (20.8 ppg) were the fourth-most in program history. The All-Northwest District first-teamer also averaged nearly seven rebounds per game as a senior, generating scholarship interest from multiple Division II colleges.
“His junior and senior years he developed into more of a scorer and was a real leader for us,” Hess said.
“His senior year, he was one of those guys – and it’s very rare – that he never had a bad practice. Great attitude, showed up, worked hard and that was the big reason for the turnaround that we had from his junior year to his senior year.”
Denbow landed at the Division II University of Charleston (W.V.), where he played in 12 games and scored 54 points as a freshman.
After that season, though, he didn’t like his fit within the program and felt like he might be growing away from the game.
Denbow said there were a few months where he didn’t even touch a basketball.
“I was contemplating being done with it,” he said. “But then I went in the gym and shot once and said, ‘Yeah, I can’t be done with this.’”
Without a college spot lined up for the 2020-21 school year, Denbow instead helped as an assistant coach at Ashland High School. He said he was surrounded by basketball guys he loves on that staff, including Hess, Greg Gallaway, Keith Vipperman, Matt White and Tom Carver.
The Arrows finished that season 18-5, with Denbow’s younger brother, Luke Denbow, leading the squad as a second-team All-Ohio junior.
With a renewed optimism for the game, Garrett Denbow got back into the college scene by linking up with Division II West Liberty University (W.V.). He had turned down a scholarship to play with the Hilltoppers after high school, and they offered him a roster spot with no scholarship money for the 2021-22 season.
He played in all 32 games as a sophomore at West Liberty, which was ranked as high as No. 2 in the country that season and finished 29-3.
Denbow shot 44 percent from 3-point range (47 of 106) and finished the year with 177 points, but he never started for the Hilltoppers.
“I didn’t have certain gifts athletically, so I had to get competitive advantages in other areas,” Denbow said. “Really, I just continually told myself to keep going throughout the whole process. It was never easy.”
He said he felt he played his role well there, but when the coaching staff decided not to offer him scholarship money moving forward, he found a spot with Division II Anderson University for his junior year in 2022-23.
That move changed the trajectory of his career.
Playing for head coach Jimmie Williams, Denbow linked up with the Trojans alongside his brother, then-freshman Luke, and the two became a story all their own over the next two seasons, playing 10 hours away from Ashland.
Luke started 15 games and averaged 14.1 ppg as a freshman while Garrett started in 22 games and averaged 15.3 ppg.
By the end of the season, the junior led all of Division II in 3-pointers made per game (3.5).
Denbow said he knew late that season that professional basketball could potentially be in his future, adding that Williams gave him the confidence and freedom to come into his own as a player.
“The 3-ball was always my thing,” Denbow said. “When I was younger, that was pretty much all I could do – I wasn’t too athletic, but I could always shoot.
“Then as time went on, I just got more comfortable doing certain things outside of shooting. I got better and better defensively, and mentally, too.”
His senior season in 2023-24 was similar. Anderson improved from 9-19 to 15-14 with Denbow starting in all 29 games – his first time since high school to make the starting lineup in every contest.
Despite opposing teams knowing of his talent from the perimeter, Denbow still finished in the Top 5 in the country in both total 3-pointers made (99) and 3s made per game (3.4).
He hit nine treys in a game against Newberry, had six games of 30-plus points scored and averaged 19.4 ppg for the season.
The effort landed him second-team South Atlantic Conference honors and pushed him to 1,206 career points in college – 975 of them coming in just two seasons at Anderson.
“Even back when he was a sophomore or junior and not quite the player he thought he could be, he had big aspirations,” Hess said. “Garrett never seemed to get discouraged, even with the struggle we had his junior year of only winning two games … then the different changes in colleges.
“Anytime you talk to Garrett, he’s almost been a dreamer to a certain point that never gave up. It was always, ‘That’s all right. There’s going to be another door to open and I’m going to keep going until I find it.’ ”
Amazingly, as recently as a month ago, the 24-year-old Denbow was holding out hope he could get an additional year of college eligibility.
He had petitioned the NCAA to get another college season since he had played so sparingly as a freshman at Charleston. Had the petition been successful, he had been offered a scholarship to play this season at Division I South Carolina.
He was working out at Ashland and attending online classes this fall for South Carolina while awaiting the NCAA’s decision, but was denied the chance about a month ago. He said he was told he had a lack of documentation to support his case and had played 17 minutes over the NCAA’s limit to be granted another season.
Immediately after hearing the news, Denbow signed with agent Tod Seidel of TBS Management, who had seen him play at Anderson and felt his game could get him into the G League Draft.
Seidel helped him get onto the radar of a variety of general managers who showed interest in him,. He learned a little before 2 p.m. on the day of the draft that San Diego was going to select him.
Less than 24 hours later, Denbow was on a plane to California, and has spent the last week in training camp in Irvine, Calif.
“I think a shooter like me (in the early 2000s) would be a little bit of an anomaly; it just wasn’t as valued then,” he said. “But shooting is super valued today.
“You’ve got to be able to do something at an elite level, and that’s what I do at an elite level.”
This is the first season the Clippers G League team is playing in San Diego, having relocated after seven seasons in Ontario, Calif.
If Denbow makes the team, led by fifth-year coach Paul Hewitt, he will open the season Nov. 8 with a home game at Frontwave Arena against the Rip City Remix (affiliate of the Portland Trail Blazers).
The G League season starts with a 16-game Tip-Off Tournament, followed by a 34-game regular season that opens Dec. 27. If the Clippers qualify, the G League playoffs begin in April.
“Any time you get a chance to get paid to play the game that you love, that’s just extremely awesome,” Hess said. “I’m excited for Garrett.”
Still, with a long road ahead to even have a shot at the NBA, Denbow will continue his journey a 33-hour drive away from Ashland.
Of note, the 2023-24 Los Angeles Clippers had 18 players on their NBA roster. Of those, 12 of them spent time in the G League during their careers.
“There have been tons of great athletes (from Ashland) and lots of guys that could play (a professional sport),” Denbow said. “I think about some of these basketball guys that have had an impact on me and it’s really cool. It’s definitely not something that I take lightly.”
