Feb. 15, 2016
By Jerome Boettcher | Subscribe to Commodore Nation
Growing up in Washington, D.C., sophomore walk-on point guard Phillip McGloin has been exposed to politics and a diverse culture. At the end of the semester, he plans to declare a double major of political science and economics with a minor in Chinese and managerial studies. He has been studying Chinese since he was in middle school and studied abroad in China for a month this past summer.
With your role at Vanderbilt, have you come to embrace your position as a walk-on?
I knew exactly what I was coming into do, in terms of being a walk-on. I embraced it from the beginning. I enjoy it. Practice is fun for me. Basketball is still fun for me. Every time I get to play I enjoy it.
What has it been like to be a part of the team?
It has been a lot of fun. It has been very interesting. It has been exciting. I feel like I was there before we had these expectations. Get to know people, see how much some people have improved, specifically like Wade and Luke. To watch them get better and to really be confident we can play with anyone now. To see how much better we are from last year and how much better we are as a team, how much better people get along on and off the court. It is special. It truly is what it means to be on a team.
Was Vanderbilt always the place you wanted to go?
To be honest with you, Vanderbilt really wasn’t on my radar at all. I applied because my mom told me to (laughs) and my guidance counselor told me to in high school. I was looking at some Division I schools but by the end of my senior year it came down to I had a lot of Division III options to play basketball and then I also got into applying to North Carolina, Georgetown and a couple others. I had two different ways I could go. And I decided to go to Vanderbilt. It was the best mix of academics, interesting, far away from home. I thought I had a chance to be on a team and they gave me a lot of financial aid so it was just the place to be.
Your mother, Valarie, is a doctor, and your father, David, is a journalist and educational consultant and worked with 60 Minutes and the Read Across America Program. What sort of influence have your parents had on you?
They’ve been amazing. When I was younger I kind of fought against them. Because my mom was a doctor I didn’t want to be a doctor. Because my dad was a journalist, I didn’t want to be a journalist. But they’ve stuck with me through my tough times. The older I get, the more I appreciate them. To the point I am at now, where I listen to what they say – I truly do. They are really smart. They are great parents. I’m truly blessed to have them.
Do you have an idea of what you’d like to do after you graduate?
Not specifically. Right now my plan is to try internships out in different areas and really sort of narrow down my focus. Is it politics? Do I want to work in Washington, D.C.? For me, I’m interested in China. I’ve studied Chinese since middle school. I’ve been over there in the summer a couple of times. So trying to decide if I would be comfortable living and working in China is a big next step for me.
What was that experience in China like?
It was unique, very different and exciting. Even though I was only there for a month I felt like I wanted to dabble in everything. Living there had a really good hold for me to get used to it. There was always something new every day. So it made it fun for the whole trip. My Chinese has gotten pretty good over time. It has taken me a while but I’m able to speak and get to where I need to be in China. Ask people for help and directions and things like that. It really improved a lot while I was over there. It has been a lot of fun. I can understand what people are saying. If they are speaking really fast, maybe not. (laughs)
You went to Sidwell Friends School for high school – the same school that Malia Obama went to. Did you know her?
We’re definitely not best friends, but I knew her (Malia was a freshman when McGloin was a senior). She is really nice. We’d say hi in the hallways, things like that.
What was it like going to school with the daughter of the president of the United States?
As a student, you see the security guards and you see Malia every day, you get over it really quickly. But when you step back, she has security with her – there is a person that follows close behind and a person that follows far behind. There is a security team parked in front of the school. I’m sure there are other people we couldn’t see that are always there.
After Sidwell Friends, you spent a postgraduate year at Mercersburg Academy, a boarding school in Pennsylvania. Why did you decide to go to prep school for a year?
A couple reasons. A big one would be basketball. I wanted to consider other basketball options (in college), other places to play. Another (reason) is academics. My grades weren’t that great coming out of Sidwell. And the last reason was I just didn’t feel ready for college. I just wasn’t excited about. I was more nervous than excited. I didn’t like where I was at mentally. I didn’t think I was ready. I knew once I got to college it was going to be all business. I just didn’t feel like that coming out of Sidwell.
