Four years ago, Patrick Gardner was told he wasn’t a Division I player.
Now the Merrick native is a professional — on his native Long Island, no less.
In this Thanksgiving season, that expectation-defying career is among the things Gardner is most grateful for.
After failing to impress then-Iona coach Tim Cluess during a spring 2019 workout, Gardner has worked. And worked.
His long journey took him from the Division III JUCO ranks through Division II hoops and eventually to Marist. It even took him as far as this summer’s FIBA World Cup.
And now, to the G League Long Island Nets.
“Well, that’s a great thing you just brought up, because I do remember when coach Cluess did say that about me,” Gardner told Sports+ with a wry smile.
“I’m trying to focus on the moment, but sometimes, when you think about how far you’ve come — just after practice or on the bus or something — you kind of think about how grateful you are to [be here], that I’m in a position like this and how far I’ve come. But it wasn’t easy, and there’s still a long way to go.”
Patrick Gardner is in his first season with the G League Long Island Nets.NBAE via Getty ImagesGardner has called the blunt critique a “slap in the face,” and still remembers it as if it were yesterday. But he’s been determined not to let it define his today. Or his tomorrow.
After being signed to an Exhibit 10 contract, Gardner went to camp with G League Long Island and made the team. The 6-foot-11 big man has played in four of their six games, and is averaging 6.3 points and 3.8 rebounds.
Granted, Gardner’s shooting — he’s hitting 26.9 percent from the field and 18.2 percent from 3-point range — hasn’t translated yet, facing more athletic defenders than he has in the past.
But he’s playing at Nassau Coliseum, just a 10-minute, five-mile drive from Merrick, where he grew up rooting for the other team.
“So, I’m all for the Nets, but as a kid I grew up as a Knicks fan — I was a Knicks, Yankees, Giants fan,” Gardner laughed, ticking off the local blue bloods.
Patrick Gardner is averaging 6.3 points during a slow shooting start to his G League campaign.NBAE via Getty ImagesHe can be forgiven. When the 24-year-old was born, the Nets were based in New Jersey. But he’s learning. Now he’s all-in on the Brooklyn franchise and its G League affiliate.
“Yeah, you know, times have kind of changed now,” Gardner said. “So loyalties have kind of changed.”
Getting schooled
It’s been a winding road for Gardner to get here. It required a fair amount of determination and self-belief, even when others around him doubted. Otherwise, the late bloomer’s hoops hopes would have been buried as a teen.
As a freshman at Sanford H. Calhoun High School, he came off the bench — on junior varsity.
By the time he was a junior, he was the best player on varsity, and as a senior, he honorable mention All-State.
He showed some all-around skills, honed from spending weekends through high school with trainer Brian Kuar.
But he was still slightly built and lightly recruited.
Patrick Gardner in action at Merrick’s Sanford H. Calhoun High School.Courtesy of Patrick GardnerHe spent three years at Nassau Community College, an NJCAA Division III school in Uniondale, just four miles from his home. In Year 2, he suffered a season-ending torn meniscus just three games into the campaign.
Gardner’s rehab went well, but his recruitment was less promising. After that workout in front of Iona’s Cluess, the big man opted to return to Nassau for his redshirt sophomore season, and he went on to be named a third-team JUCO All-American.
But his recruitment took a hit along with the rest of the world with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. With fewer scouts and showcases, he had fewer chances to impress.
His prior Gaels workout hadn’t impressed Cluess — who was coming off four straight NCAA berths — but it left an impression on assistant Eric Eaton.
As Gardner was deciding to return to Nassau, Eaton was leaving for the head job at Division II St. Michael’s in Vermont. They reconnected after that sophomore season and Gardner enrolled for 2020-21 — only to have the entire Northeast-10 Conference regular and postseason canceled due to COVID-19.
Eaton told Gardner he could be a pro, that if he worked on his body he had a future in the sport.
So Gardner set his mind to that transformation.
Patrick Gardner’s long and winding college career ended at Marist during the 2022-23 season.CameraSport via Getty Images“I definitely had to get stronger, and I started to shift more of my focus in the weight room, so going there four or five times a week,” Gardner said. “But other than that, just keeping [my head up]. It has to do with my mental strength, too, because in order to play at the highest level, you need the confidence to go in there and know that you belong.
“And I’ve always thought I belonged at any level that I wanted to play in. If you don’t feel like you belong, then you’re never going to make it. … It starts with the mindset, and then coming up with the plan. The consensus was I need to get stronger. I knew I had the skill.”
Gardner’s first serious steps at physical improvement led him to average 20.2 points, 10.2 boards and 2.3 blocks in 2021-22. And reach Division I.
Marist’s John Dunne had coached in the Northeast-10 at Adelphi. He still followed the league and had seen Gardner, enough to see the potential there and a possible impact player at the mid-major DI level.
In a final collegiate campaign, Gardner finished second in the MAAC in scoring (19.1), sixth in rebounding (6.6) and even shot 38.3 percent from 3-point range, flashing a reliable jumper.
But most importantly, he showed a physical strength that had been sorely lacking.
“I don’t know specifically what I was benching, but let’s just say I couldn’t do 225,” Gardner said, alluding to the commonly used strength-testing benchmark. “But now I could definitely do a good hopefully seven or eight.”
A spindly 6-foot-8, 190 pounds coming out of Calhoun, now Gardner packs 250 pounds on his 6-11 frame.
From the world stage to G League gyms
Patrick Gardner, whose mother is from Cairo, played for Egypt during the 2023 FIBA World Cup in the Philippines.APThis past summer, a stronger Gardner went to Las Vegas Summer League with the Miami Heat, an organization renowned for having a keen eye for undrafted talent.
Then Gardner was signed by the Nets.
He also was invited to play for Egypt in the FIBA World Cup. Gardner’s mother is Egyptian, a native of Cairo. He spent summers there growing up, speaks Arabic, and says he always wanted to play for the Pharaohs.
He didn’t look out of his depth, his international performance highlighted by scoring 20 points — hitting 4-of-7 from deep — in a win over Mexico.
“It was incredible. … I hope to do it again,” Gardner said. “The people and coaches, I’ve met lifelong connections, lifelong friends that I still talk to.
“And just playing against competition, such a high level. Even if you don’t do good in games [or] you do good in games, it still helps you because it gives you a point of reference to see … this is the level that I need to reach. So, just a great learning experience.”
Gardner essentially came straight back from the World Cup in the Philippines and into training camp, with only a fairly short break in between.
Patrick Gardner throws down a dunk during the FIBA World Cup.POOL/AFP via Getty ImagesNow in the Nets organization with another 6-foot-11 lefty big man in budding star Nic Claxton and practicing and playing alongside rookie first-round pick Noah Clowney with Long Island, Gardner is maximizing the experience.
He’ll never possess those players’ elite athleticism, but there is plenty he can take from them as he tries to find his way.
“Just being a sponge and learning as much as I can from them,” Gardner said. “But they work hard defensively and they work hard rebounding, and I’ve always wanted to improve my rebounding and just watching them, see how they rebound and crash, that’s something that I really focus on with them.”
Gardner has gotten more technical advice from Long Island head coach Mfon Udofia and the Nets assistants.
But most of all, the feedback has been to keep that unwavering self-belief.
“A lot of good things and obviously some things to improve on, just getting in and out of screens, quicker feet into shots and just getting used to the pace,” Gardner said. “I’d say to me: You belong here. There’s a reason why you’re here, so just keep playing with confidence and everything else will take care of itself.”
