While Brandon Maclin is receiving praise now, that was not always the case. He has had his share of doubters on social media.

“He’s small.”

“He can’t shoot.” 

But the doubters never really bothered Maclin.

“It is what it is. Everybody is going to have an opinion …,” said Maclin, now a senior guard for the DePaul men’s basketball team. “I’m not going to make everybody happy. I understand that.”

After high school, Maclin attended Florida Coastal Prep Sports Academy to get one year of postgrad experience. He then played his freshman and sophomore seasons of college at Odessa College, a junior college, before breaking into Division I men’s basketball at Radford his junior season.

On his basketball journey, it was not about proving people wrong, but rather showing himself he was right. 

“I may have been overlooked, may have been underrecruited. But in my mind, I felt like I belonged on this level,” Maclin said.

He never gave up.

The key to believing in himself despite closed doors was setting out to achieve the dreams he first had as a child.

“Throughout my past, sometimes it may not seem like the dream is actually going anywhere,” he said. “But I just said, ‘Hey, I’m here, and I’m going to play as long as I’m allowed to play.’” 

During tough days at Odessa College, Maclin said he would call home and talk to his mom, who helped him through them. He also said he talked to his dad and one of his older brothers. 

“They just always told me, ‘Hey, keep going. There’s always light at the end of the tunnel. You may not see it now, but your work doesn’t go unnoticed,”’ Maclin said.

Now, he finds himself at DePaul, which he said was his only true high-major option out of the transfer portal. He was more than ready to test himself in the Big East conference.

Senior guard CJ Gunn is calling Maclin the Blue Demons’ “glue guy,” as he did in the postgame press conference following the team’s home win against Xavier in early January.

“He brings that energy, he brings that fight, and as an older guy, he’s one of our leaders,” Gunn said. “So we look up to him to make the right play and to come out and give out what he does.”

That was Maclin’s plan. As an older player, he wanted to help the team win. He attributes his leadership to “the love of the game.”

“I feel like I’ve been in many situations where the team didn’t have a leader, and someone stepped up too late,” Maclin said. “… I wanted to step up from day one and help lead the team.”

When the game ends, it’s simple: Maclin wants more points than the opponent.

“So whatever it takes — whether that’s scoring 15 points, whether that’s getting 11 rebounds, whether that’s getting eight assists — whatever it takes to win,” he said.

“That is my mindset, no matter what.”

Against Creighton on Feb. 11, the Blue Demons faced a one-point deficit with 1:03 left in the game and needed a defensive stop. 

When senior forward NJ Benson matched up against Creighton guard Austin Swartz, who had the ball, Benson said that Maclin was telling him he “better guard.”

Benson got the stop and Maclin secured the defensive rebound.

Out of the Blue Demons’ timeout at the 12-second mark, junior guard Layden Blocker inbounded the ball to Maclin. With seven seconds left in the game, Maclin made a layup to put DePaul up by one point. 

The layup — and one more defensive stop — gave the Blue Demons the victory, snapping their four-game losing streak.

“I love him, man,” Benson said in the postgame presser about Maclin. “He’s like a ball of fire. He never stops. … It means a lot to him, and I think the coaching staff and all the players know that. I feel like he’s the heart of our team.”

Maclin traces his approach towards winning back to his high school coach, who insisted he put the team first. 

“It was my sophomore year, and he felt like I was playing selfish,” Maclin said. “And he told me, like, ‘One day you’re going to need your teammates. You’re not going to be able to do it yourself forever.’ 

“So that’s when it changed my mind quick, and I became more of a team player.”

Having been underrated at the start, Maclin said he has nothing to lose by playing his hardest and best.

Those closed doors created a Blue Demon who will not back down on the court.

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• ‘Unbelievable energy’: With fan support, DePaul men’s basketball is finding success at home with Big East wins
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