Frank Gbinije is always thinking about what his son can do to get to the next level. He’ll look at Michael Gbinije’s stats and keep up with the draft boards. He’ll tell Michael point blank what he thinks he needs to average in different statistical categories. He’ll admit that he believes Michael is more suited to be an NBA shooting guard as opposed to the point guard role he adopted at the outset of this season.

Michael, by nature, would rather remain blissfully unaware. He’s fully wrapped up in a college career that will last anywhere from another week to another month. And the continuously ticking 106-day clock that separates him from his professional future is another world away for him.

“At some point, you know what’s right or wrong as an individual,” Gbinije said. “So sometimes, I’ll listen. And if I like it, I’ll keep it in my mind. And if not, it’ll go in one ear and out the other.”

He knows the importance of the approaching postseason, but doesn’t seem consumed by it. In his five-year college career, he’s been to the bottom rung of relevance in a sport he’s grown to be a star in.

It’s a career that started with a diminished role as a Duke reserve. It continued with a transfer year on the bench. It was altered with a change in positions. And now it’s culminating in one dominant senior season. The 23-year-old has put away the inconsistencies that once defined his career and has completely redefined it in the past 31 games.

Game No. 32, when Syracuse (19-12, 9-9 Atlantic Coast) takes on Pittsburgh (20-10, 9-9) in the second round of the ACC tournament on Wednesday, will be the biggest of his career. It may be the game that decides whether a season in which Gbinije has scored at least 10 points in every game, continues into the NCAA Tournament. It may be the game that decides whether his stardom gets to be viewed on college basketball’s most important stage.

The moment is big and the stakes are high, but Gbinije doesn’t let it consume him.

“I’ve been very lucky to have worked with the players that I’ve worked with. But there’s very few people that when they go through an hour-long workout don’t waste any reps,” SU assistant coach Gerry McNamara said. “And this kid, in any practice or workout we’ve ever done, he’s done everything to the full extent of his work.”

Gbinije is not the type of person that goes into a shell after a loss. He won’t hang his head or mumble one-word answers to the press. Sometimes he’ll even crack a smile.

After a loss to Pittsburgh in December he joked with a reporter that he was glad he asked about Tyler Lydon passing up open shots. When the Orange lost to Miami in January, he retold a conversation he had with a referee that made him angry to a media scrum. When SU lost to UNC on Feb. 29, moments after his bad decision possibly cost his team a game, he was stable enough to explain the thought process.

The senior said he likes to take time to reflect on every game. It comes after the team talks following a win or a loss. And it comes after he talks to the press. It comes in what he calls “solo time.” A time when he thinks about the game on his own terms.

He’s struggled, shooting 13-for-36 over a three-game stretch. He’s shot 11-for-18 and scored 34 points in a heroic senior day game against North Carolina State. Through his difficulties and his best games, he’s kept the same mental process.

“I’ve been hard on myself in the past,” Gbinije said. “Now I’m just kind of, I don’t know, I’m just a positive guy in general. I like to reflect.”

McNamara thinks that Gbinije’s entire season has been looked over because the Orange hasn’t topped any rankings and isn’t perched near the top of the ACC standings. But in terms of scoring, Gbinije has seen the most consistent success of anyone in the conference.

He’s done it adapting to a new position. He’s done it meticulously watching freshman Frank Howard in practice, because Howard has five more years of experience as a point guard. He’s done it by sometimes sacrificing a shot-first mentality to be the captain of an offense.

“It was the hardest thing to get the confidence to go with his skills,” Frank Gbinije said. “Knowing what he’s capable of and the type of talent he has, it took him a while. … It really was a slow start and a slow build up.”

A year at Duke where he played just 111 minutes. A year on the bench preparing to be the backup point guard. A year coming off the bench. A year showing he had potential to be a team’s best player.

Now he’s living in a final year where he’s the center of attention. And he can’t be blamed for letting the NBA talk go in one ear and out the other.

Just two days before Syracuse was set to take on N.C. State on senior day, Gbinije was finishing shootaround in the Melo Center. The team was about to start practice. Tyler Lydon was finishing his practice shots. So too was Trevor Cooney on the other end of the court.

Gbinije, though, was lining up opposite walk-on Evan Dourdas, taking him one-on-one to the hoop, the biggest smile on both of their faces. There was Gbinije, the star, the potential future NBA talent. And there was Dourdas, who sometimes travels to road games and watches from the second row of the bench in the Carrier Dome.

Gbinije would take him off the dribble and then Dourdas would attempt to do the same. Amid a season where he’s the center of attention, Gbinije doesn’t act bigger than any person or any moment. He’s been that irrelevant player before, but now he’s continuing to establish his legacy as a Syracuse great.

“I do like the sound of that, I can’t lie,” Gbinije said. “I’m living so much in the moment.”

Published on March 8, 2016 at 11:57 pm

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