‘Different than any other player’: Hickory’s Rob Dillingham picked No. 8 in NBA Draft

When NBA lottery pick Rob Dillingham entered high school at Lincolnton’s Combine Academy, Jeff McInnis knew he was coaching a special talent.

The Hickory native and a recent Charlotte Observer boys’ basketball player of the year excelled on the court from a young age. But on top of the 6-foot-3 point guard’s prowess on the floor, Dillingham displayed a unique interest in the game and strong desire to be the best player he could be.

Dillingham, selected eighth overall in the NBA Draft on Wednesday night in New York, was consistently asking detailed questions as soon as he started playing at the Charlotte-area private boarding school in ninth grade. His passion — as much as his talents — was evident to McInnis, his coach at Combine Academy who played for the legendary Dean Smith at North Carolina in the 1990s.

He’s set to join the Minnesota Timberwolves, who acquired the No. 8 pick from the San Antonio Spurs.

“It’s just a blessing to even be here,” Dillingham said. “You work your whole life, and you never know if you’re gonna make it. So when you finally get there, it’s just a blessing — playing with Anthony Edwards and the whole Timberwolves team that was just in the Western Conference Finals.”

‘This is what he worked for’

After a dominant sophomore season at Combine Academy in which he powered the Goats to a 29-3 campaign, Dillingham moved to California and spent his junior season at Donda Academy — a private school founded by Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West — and then joined Overtime Elite in Atlanta as a senior.

“I said he was a pro in ninth grade,” McInnis said. “He put the work in, and now he’s reaping the rewards. I couldn’t be more proud of him — I love the kid. I’ve seen him go from a little, big-eyed freshman to a Top 10 pick.

“And I always told him that he could do it.”

Dillingham, who averaged 15.2 points per game at the University of Kentucky in his lone college season, played for the competitive Team United in Charlotte when he was coming up. It was clear to McInnis early that he’d been tested against tough AAU and travel teams — and wasn’t going to be intimidated by any opponent.

“This is what he worked for,” McInnis said. “He said he wanted to do this in ninth grade when I first met him. A lot of people know hard I used to be on him, but I think now way before now, he understood why I was so hard on him and pushed him the way I did.

“Because I saw something different in that kid. That was different than any other player I’ve coached.”