Former basketball coach dies at age 83
Former men’s basketball Coach and Athletic Director Jack McKinney died on Sept. 25 at the age of 83.
McKinney will be remembered primarily for his tenure in the NBA, where he coached the Milwaukee Bucks, Portland Trailblazers, Los Angeles Lakers and Indiana Pacers.
Prior to his success at the professional level, McKinney began his college coaching career at St. Joe’s as an assistant to Jack Ramsay ’49.
After working under Ramsay for five years, McKinney took over and became the St. Joe’s men’s basketball head coach.
As a coach, McKinney’s teams were categorized by their extremely fast-paced offense, which required strict attention to detail.
“He was a very calculating, almost non-emotional coach,” Paul Westhead said, McKinney’s assistant coach for the Lakers. “He tried to outmaneuver you. It was always frustrating to coach against Jack McKinney because he would set your team in a bad direction. He was a very clever basketball coach.”
Despite his somewhat easygoing disposition, McKinney’s competitive side showed whenever he coached.
“He was astute and fearless,” said St. Joe’s men’s basketball Head Coach Phil Martelli. “He did not let his team make excuses for refereeing or setting. He was a fierce competitor with a softer outer shell.”
Despite McKinney’s success, he was fired at the end of the 1974 season after leading the Hawks to the NCAA Tournament. Martelli described this firing as unjust, but commended that McKinney for remaining supportive of the school through the rest of his professional career and beyond.
“There are few that were more supportive and more energetic about St. Joe’s,” Martelli said. “He had St. Joe’s in a special place in his heart. When you leave here, you are a representative for the rest of your life. Jack McKinney did not shrink from that responsibility.”
He would prove to be a key role model for coaches like Martelli and St. Joe’s women’s basketball Head Coach Cindy Griffin.
“Coach McKinney was a very generous person,” Griffin said. “He shared his time and his knowledge with me when I first started coaching here. He was very forthcoming in offering advice and helping me understand the St. Joe’s way of doing things.”
Though many will only know McKinney for his career achievements, those who held personal relationships with him will remember the kind of man he was off of the court.
“He was more of a character than people think,” Westhead said. “He was funny. He would do silly things that people wouldn’t pick up on. He always had a smirk on his face. You could never take him too seriously.”
Martelli holds McKinney as a prime example of what a coach should be, both on and off the court. McKinney didn’t let the outside world affect him, he just continued to work.
“He was a gentleman,” Martelli said. “Many coaches have an ego, he was without an ego. He was resilient, he got fired from St. Joe’s and still went on to coach in the NBA. He had the daunting task of following hall of famer Jack Ramsey. He just bounced back and kept going at it.”
