Completed Event: Men's Basketball at UNLV on February 7, 2026 , Loss , 78, to, 80
M Basketball
at UNLV
L 78-80
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Photo by: Washington Wizards
Insider: Midtgaard works out for NBA teams
7/26/2021 8:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro, Lopes Insider Blog
GCU center's breakout season earned trips to Wizards, Kings, Spurs, Magic
When Asbjørn Midtgaard arrived at Grand Canyon a year ago, his aspirations pinned on reaching his first NCAA tournament and playing more than his single-digit minute totals for his last 12 games at Wichita State.
Midtgaard achieved those goals and then some, becoming the national field goal percentage leader (70.7%) who caught the attention of pro teams in the U.S. and Europe. With the NBA Draft approaching on Thursday, four NBA teams invited Midtgaard to work out for them this month in a whirlwind, coast-to-coast tour.
The Lopes' breakout star of the 2020-21 season worked out for the Washington Wizards on July 15, setting off a chain of spur-of-the-moment invitations that had him bouncing from the Sacramento Kings to the San Antonio Spurs and Orlando Magic with brief pit stops at his Phoenix workout base.
"When I was on my way to Phoenix last summer, I did not imagine this summer would look like this," Midtgaard said while watching the next GCU team's summer workouts. "When I got my first one and I thought it would be my only one, I thought, 'I did it.' I'll take what I can get and I'm happy for it.
"The goal for this season was to get my name out there in the NBA arena and then try to get on a Summer League team. I'm just trying to enjoy the ride."
Midtgaard is not projected to be selected in the two-round NBA Draft on Thursday, but he is hopeful that he has made enough of an impression to be invited to one of the franchises' NBA Summer League teams of prospects. That Las Vegas league starts on Aug. 8, a day after he is marrying Madison Freund on Aug. 7 in Wichita, Kansas.
Professional opportunities in Europe loom as well for the native of Denmark, whose only NBA player was Lars Hansen (15 games for Seattle in 1978-79).
"It's nothing overwhelming in the sense that it's basketball," Midtgaard said of the NBA workouts. "There's a ball. There's a hoop. You just do what you do.
"I hope I impressed someone. You go one on one and then you get the ball in the post. There are different scenarios. I think I showed my game off. I'm trying to add some new stuff, that's for sure. Some (shooting) range. They shoot a lot in the NBA, obviously, with a lot more 3s. I've been working on that and showing that off a little. Not that I'm Steph Curry, by any means, but now I can hit a 3."
Midtgaard showed reliable post-up and mid-range scoring ability to lead GCU's first NCAA Division I tournament team with 14.2 points per game while also topping the team in rebounds per game (9.7) and blocked shots per game (1.3), the Lopes' highest averages in those categories since 2013-14. He broke a 42-year-old WAC record, held by Danny Vranes, for conference field goal percentage (69.7%).
Each NBA workout was structured differently for Midtgaard with six players, including Wisconsin's Micah Potter and Oregon's Eugene Omoruyi, in Washington, D.C., and two, three and four players at the other stops. Each of the other workouts included projected first-round pick Alperen Sengun, a Turkish 6-foot-9, 240-pounder who turned 19 on Sunday.
The workouts entailed a mix of drills and competition before individual interviews with each team's brass. For Midtgaard, the flight schedules were more stressful.
"I thought, 'Oh, no, is this going to be like a job interview?,' but it was very casual," Midtgaard said. "They're just trying to get to know you and see what kind of person you are, what you're thinking of how you are as a player. It's important because they said, in some workouts, that you only get one chance at a first impression. You've got to go hard and be yourself. If you try to be someone you're not, they'll see that."
GCU has been a career-transforming place for Midtgaard's life and an ideal base for training and treatment since the season ended. Before he makes a life-transforming commitment on Aug. 7, a packed bag will remain ready for the next basketball invitation.
"I'm ready to go," Midtgaard said.
Midtgaard achieved those goals and then some, becoming the national field goal percentage leader (70.7%) who caught the attention of pro teams in the U.S. and Europe. With the NBA Draft approaching on Thursday, four NBA teams invited Midtgaard to work out for them this month in a whirlwind, coast-to-coast tour.
The Lopes' breakout star of the 2020-21 season worked out for the Washington Wizards on July 15, setting off a chain of spur-of-the-moment invitations that had him bouncing from the Sacramento Kings to the San Antonio Spurs and Orlando Magic with brief pit stops at his Phoenix workout base.
"When I was on my way to Phoenix last summer, I did not imagine this summer would look like this," Midtgaard said while watching the next GCU team's summer workouts. "When I got my first one and I thought it would be my only one, I thought, 'I did it.' I'll take what I can get and I'm happy for it."The goal for this season was to get my name out there in the NBA arena and then try to get on a Summer League team. I'm just trying to enjoy the ride."
Midtgaard is not projected to be selected in the two-round NBA Draft on Thursday, but he is hopeful that he has made enough of an impression to be invited to one of the franchises' NBA Summer League teams of prospects. That Las Vegas league starts on Aug. 8, a day after he is marrying Madison Freund on Aug. 7 in Wichita, Kansas.
Professional opportunities in Europe loom as well for the native of Denmark, whose only NBA player was Lars Hansen (15 games for Seattle in 1978-79).
"It's nothing overwhelming in the sense that it's basketball," Midtgaard said of the NBA workouts. "There's a ball. There's a hoop. You just do what you do.
"I hope I impressed someone. You go one on one and then you get the ball in the post. There are different scenarios. I think I showed my game off. I'm trying to add some new stuff, that's for sure. Some (shooting) range. They shoot a lot in the NBA, obviously, with a lot more 3s. I've been working on that and showing that off a little. Not that I'm Steph Curry, by any means, but now I can hit a 3."
Midtgaard showed reliable post-up and mid-range scoring ability to lead GCU's first NCAA Division I tournament team with 14.2 points per game while also topping the team in rebounds per game (9.7) and blocked shots per game (1.3), the Lopes' highest averages in those categories since 2013-14. He broke a 42-year-old WAC record, held by Danny Vranes, for conference field goal percentage (69.7%).
Each NBA workout was structured differently for Midtgaard with six players, including Wisconsin's Micah Potter and Oregon's Eugene Omoruyi, in Washington, D.C., and two, three and four players at the other stops. Each of the other workouts included projected first-round pick Alperen Sengun, a Turkish 6-foot-9, 240-pounder who turned 19 on Sunday.
The workouts entailed a mix of drills and competition before individual interviews with each team's brass. For Midtgaard, the flight schedules were more stressful.
"I thought, 'Oh, no, is this going to be like a job interview?,' but it was very casual," Midtgaard said. "They're just trying to get to know you and see what kind of person you are, what you're thinking of how you are as a player. It's important because they said, in some workouts, that you only get one chance at a first impression. You've got to go hard and be yourself. If you try to be someone you're not, they'll see that."
GCU has been a career-transforming place for Midtgaard's life and an ideal base for training and treatment since the season ended. Before he makes a life-transforming commitment on Aug. 7, a packed bag will remain ready for the next basketball invitation.
"I'm ready to go," Midtgaard said.
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