Lowry: From 'Yo where's my scholarship?' to All-Star, gold medalist

Kyle Lowry has achieved quite a bit in his career.

In the past year alone, the point guard became an All-Star starter for the second straight season, led his Toronto Raptors to the the East finals for the first time in franchise history, and won an Olympic gold medal as a member of Team USA in Rio.

He recently visited his alma mater and reigning national champions Villanova, where he sat down with his college coach, Jay Wright, and discussed their relationship on Adrian Wojnarowski's The Vertical Podcast.

The pair touched on meeting in 2003, when Wright was recruiting two other players and a 16-year-old Lowry approached him to ask when he was going to offer him a scholarship. That took considerable gall, especially considering the Philadelphia native sat out that contest as he served a suspension.

He's come a long way since.

"It's funny that I am able to say I have a gold medal," the 30-year-old said. "My college, my coach won a national championship. I was close to getting a ring. (laughs) Close. Two games away from getting to the championship. I went to the Eastern Conference Finals, I have a gold medal, I have a beautiful family, I have great people around me.

"And it just shows how far a kid that comes up to a coach and says, 'Yo where's my scholarship?' can go. It's a long road, but it's been a fun road, and I just want to thank you, coach."

Lowry and the Raptors will try to build upon their 56-win season, when the floor general recorded a career-high 21.2 points, 2.1 steals, and 4.7 rebounds per outing to go along with 6.4 assists. He'll no doubt continue to remain close with Wright and support the Wildcats in their bid to repeat as NCAA champions.