Growing up in Hagerstown, Maryland, Quiezhee “Q” Gantt looked up to his older brothers and saw them get involved in multiple sports. They played baseball, football and basketball. There was only one sport that got Gantt’s undivided attention, and that was basketball.

Gantt started playing basketball when he was 5 years old, and today he is a business major and, according to his coach and fellow players, an integral part of City College’s men’s basketball team. 

Gantt plays point guard and shooting guard, but said he isn’t like most players who want to be the focal point of the offense. When he’s on the court, his responsibility is to help the offense run smoothly by sharing the ball with his teammates and shutting down the opposition’s main offensive threat, according to head basketball coach Andrew Jones. 

“Every game I’m on the best offensive player. I love it,” said Gantt.

Before high school, he played for an AAU team in Maryland. When Gantt was going into his freshman year of high school, he and his family moved to California where Gantt played basketball at Laguna Creek High School for three years. 

Gantt said he and the head coach at the time didn’t have the best relationship. After Gantt and a teammate got into an argument, the head coach at Laguna Creek decided to remove Gantt from the team. 

“He was one of those coaches that if he found any reason to kick you off the team, he was going to kick you off,” Gantt said.

After he graduated from high school in 2017, Gantt decided to try out for City College’s basketball team.

“Nobody recruited me here. I just showed up and tried out,” said Gantt.

Gantt made the team and grey-shirted his freshman year of college, opting out of playing to get in shape. A grey shirt is an incoming college freshman who postpones his enrollment in classes until the second term of his freshman year.

“I didn’t get to play my senior year [of high school], so I just needed an extra year to get back on my basketball grind,” said Gantt.

Gantt filmed games for the team and practiced with the team. He started his sophomore season on the bench, but when Jones realized how much better the team performed with Gantt on the court, he got more playing time.

“His sophomore year he was probably the 12th man when the season started, but it became clear as we went through the season that when he was on the court, things just functioned better,” Jones said. “With seven or eight games to go in his sophomore year, he was starting.”

Gantt loves playing defense. During every game, he takes the opposing team’s best player on offense. He said he embraces his role on the team and enjoys the challenge.

“Defense is what I take most pride in because that’s just you and another man, and we’re on our own island. That shows who’s a real player,” said Gantt.

Gantt is confident in his abilities on defense and feels like there isn’t anyone he can’t guard on the court.

“I play everyone the same,” said Gantt. “Nobody can score on me—period.”

His teammate and best friend Ryan Reed said he appreciates the intensity Gantt brings to the defense.

“He’s everywhere. I’d hate to be someone on the other team if he was guarding me,” said Reed. “He’s relentless on the court.”

According to Jones, Gantt is one of the best defensive players Jones has ever coached. Gantt’s defensive presence in every game disrupts the opposing team’s offensive flow. In every game Gantt annoys and frustrates his opponents with his defense.

“Q is our best on-ball defender by far,” said Jones. “He’s got amazing feet, super-quick hands, great anticipation. He’s able to focus on guarding the other team’s best perimeter player extremely well.”

When City College played American River College in late January, Gantt held one of ARC’s main offensive threats to 6 points the entire game. His defense caused ARC’s offense to struggle on the court, which contributed to the Panthers’ win against ARC. 

“When we played American River, Q was on their second-leading scorer and held him to a 3-17 game,” said Jones. 

Gantt’s toughness is another reason why he’s able to play defense at a high level. Gantt said he developed this toughness while he was growing up in Hagerstown, where they’re able to play more physically without having to worry about too many foul calls. 

“They play a little rougher out there,” said Gantt. “Basketball out there is real physical; it’s real basketball.” 

According to Gantt and Reed, their team is in a position to make it into the postseason, and Gantt said he’s confident in his teammates and his own abilities to lead them past any team they face. 

The way to keep the team’s momentum going into the playoffs is to stay humble, Gantt said, and think back during the season when they lost games they were capable of winning.

“We were just down, and it’s not hard to go back down if we don’t stay on top of our game.”