Gabe Vincent has endured a winding road from the Central Valley to the Miami Heat

Most college basketball players dream of playing in the NBA. Then they go undrafted. That’s where the dream ends for most.

Modesto native Gabe Vincent says he wasn’t dreaming of the NBA. He anticipated he wouldn’t be drafted. He knew it wouldn’t be easy. And he made it anyway, earning a spot on the Miami Heat bench this season.

“I knew it’d be very difficult,” Vincent told The Bee. “I wasn’t a top 100 high school athlete, so I knew I’d have a challenge. Going undrafted is another part of the story, so the journey continues.”

Vincent was born and raised in Modesto, about 35 miles from Stockton and 75 miles from California’s capital. He played three years of varsity basketball at St. Mary’s High School in Stockton for head coach Kenneth Green. At St. Mary’s, Vincent averaged 22.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, four assists and 3.1 steals per game.

“The St Mary’s community embraced me being the kid from out of town,” Vincent said. “I’m still very close to coach Ken Green. It was a great experience. It means the world to me and they have a special place in my heart.”

Following his high school career in Stockton, Vincent played at UC Santa Barbara from 2014-18, earning Second Team All-Big West honors after his senior season. While it was a nice honor, it wasn’t enough to earn a draft pick.

Vincent had a predraft workout with the Sacramento Kings and later signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the team in October 2018; he was waived a few days later.

That move sent him all the way back to Stockton, where he played for the Kings G-League affiliate, the Stockton Kings. He averaged 8.8 points per game in an injury-depleted season.

In the summer of 2019, Vincent got invaluable experience playing in the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup for the Nigerian national team. With the “D’Tigers” Vincent shined. In a game against Poland, he scored 23 points and hit the game-winning 3-pointer with 0.3 seconds left.

“Man, (it was) an amazing experience,” Vincent said. “Talk about playing for something bigger than yourself. To represent a nation of millions of people and to hopefully have the opportunity to do that again this summer. We qualified for the Olympics, so hopefully (I’ll) be a part of that unit going out there to compete for a medal.”

Vincent returned to Stockton for his second season with the Kings on a tear. The sharpshooting guard raised his averages to 23.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game this season.

Daquan Jeffries joined Stockton on a two-way contract this season and immediately took notice of Vincent’s leadership ability.

“He’s probably one of the first players that came up to me and introduced himself,” Jeffries said. “If something negative happened on the court, he’s one of the first players to pick you up. He’s a big leader.”

Vincent not only raised his numbers in 2019, but the efficiency remained. He was nearly lights-out, making 46.9 percent of his shots from the field, 41.2 percent from deep and 89.2 percent from the free-throw line. Vincent’s elevated play caught the attention of many teams in the NBA, including the Miami Heat.

“Our scouting department, tracked him while he was (in Stockton) and we felt that he fit a lot of the criteria that we like from those kinds of players,” said Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. “We call it the Heat DNA, which is high character and high work ethic.

“(Vincent is) a guy that’s really had to earn his way to get to this point. It doesn’t hurt that he plays defense and shoots the three-ball really well. We’re excited about having him in our program and hopefully, we can develop him for an extended period of time and see where it can go from there.”

On Jan. 8, the Heat signed him to a two-way contract, meaning he could play for the Heat and their G-League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce in South Dakota.

“It was surreal,” Vincent said about signing with the Heat. “It’s been a really fast last few weeks (and) a bit of a whirlwind. I just try to make the most of it and try to do whatever is asked of me and impact in any way I can, whether if it’s in practice, in the game (or) in the G-League with Sioux Falls. I’m happy to be part of this Heat culture.”

Moving away from the West Coast can be a bit of a culture shock, especially when you’re splitting time between Florida and South Dakota.

“I went straight from Sacramento to Sioux Falls,” Vincent said. “I joined them out there and I’d never lived in the snow, so that was a big adjustment. Then when I went to Miami, it’s the complete opposite of the snow. So weather-wise, it’s obviously a little different in the Midwest from the West Coast, so there have definitely been some adjustments.”

Vincent recently returned to California with the Heat to begin February, earning valuable playing time against the L.A. Clippers and Kings. He played in 17 minutes against the Clippers on Feb. 5, scoring nine points on 3-of-9 from 3-point range. Nerves may have gotten to him a bit against the Kings two days later, as he played for 20 minutes in front of friends and family, scoring three points on 1-of-6 shooting.

He’ll work on nights like that. Just like he’s worked his way onto the Heat’s roster.

“I’m blessed with this opportunity with the Heat but the work is far from finished and there’s a lot more to be done,” Vincent said. “I definitely still have a chip on my shoulder and (I’m) just trying to compete and level up.”

This story was originally published February 19, 2020 at 4:00 AM.