"Brilliant in the classroom, he was equally at home on the tennis courts, where his performances stamped him not only as a player of ability, but also as an efficient manager," wrote the 1916 Ye Domesday Book on John McGuire. "Nor was this his only claim to athletic renown, for in his senior year he surprised even his closest friends by making the varsity basketball squad."

McGuire played in three games in the 1915-16 basketball season and following graduation served as an attorney in New York for many years.