B.J. McKie at South Carolina
Success has been a big part of B.J. McKie’s career. As a member of the Irmo Yellow Jackets and the University of South Carolina men’s basketball teams, McKie helped lead both programs to championship levels.
As a member of the Irmo basketball team, he was an integral part of the Yellow Jackets to back-toback state titles in 1994 and 1995.
“It was definitely special to win state championships and be ranked in the country along the way,” McKie said.
McKie credits the chemistry he had with his teammates, many of whom he played with since their days of AAU basketball, for the success the Yellow Jackets enjoyed those two seasons. McKie also had the guidance of Coach Tim Whipple to help him develop as a player.
“Coach Whipple was great. He had great chemistry with the guys. He was very demanding, as a good successful coach should be. He was very demanding with what we did on the floor, and he was demanding of what we did off the floor as far as representing ourselves in the right manner. He challenged you to be the best player and the best person you could possibly be.”
McKie also credits his parents for his success, and says they were his role models.
“Although my mom didn’t help me with on the court stuff, she helped me off the court with essays and papers and speeches. My dad helped me with things on the court.”
His success at Irmo led to many looks from schools like Duke, North Carolina, Clemson, and the University of South Carolina.
“I talked with those guys on a regular basis. When those guys called, it was a great experience. I never did get overwhelmed with all the recruiting process; it was just a fun time talking and laughing with some of those guys that you see on TV. My mom, my dad, and Coach Whipple made it an easy transition as far as the recruiting process.”
After narrowing his choices to Tennessee, Virginia, Clemson, Florida, and USC; it was the Gamecocks who would win out for his services.
“I had a good relationship with Coach (Eddie) Fogler and his staff, and I believed in them just like they believed in me. It was close to home. The main thing is I thought I could get a good education, and I thought we could win. So why go anywhere else when you can do something at home?”
Fogler, who had coached at South Carolina since 1994, provided McKie with some familiarity at head coach with his demanding coaching style. Coming to South Carolina off back-to-back high school state championships, McKie gave the Gamecocks someone who was accustomed to winning and someone who knew what it took to win championships.
“It goes hand in hand. Winning is contagious, and you know what strides to take to win basketball games. I knew what it took. I knew what level I wanted to play on, and I just took that to my game and to my attitude. I wanted to get better, and I wanted to strive to be the best. I wanted our team to be the best, and I was going to do anything to help the team the best way I could.”
Despite earning freshman of the year honors, McKie was facing a tough balancing act. Having celebrated the birth of his son, his transition to South Carolina wasn’t just an adjustment of balancing school work and basketball practice, but it included having to learn about being a father.
“It was a big step, and it really taught me how to persevere and get through some early struggles, and it taught me the will to keep on pushing. That was the biggest thing for me, and I reaped the benefits from that at the end of the season.”
Winning did become contagious at USC, as the Gamecocks would contend for the SEC title in both the 1996-1997 and 1997-1998 seasons, winning the regular season championship during the 96-97 season. While the season ended with a regular season championship, early in the 96-97 season, USC didn’t look like a championship caliber team. By Christmas, the Gamecocks were struggling and their 5-5 record proved it. South Carolina was able to fight through it, got a sweep of the Kentucky Wildcats, and finished with a championship.
“It was business as usual. We expected to be good that year. We didn’t expect to start out like that. We had to mature and respect each other on the court and respect each other’s ability. I think that’s what we were lacking early on that we gained throughout the course of the year. We thought we could be capable of winning the SEC championship all along. It was just going out and doing it.”
Despite the good vibes, the second seeded Gamecocks lost 78-65 in the first round of the NCAA tournament to Coppin State. But the momentum of the championship year carried over to the next season when the Gamecocks again would battle with Kentucky for the SEC regular season title.
This time Kentucky won out, but South Carolina would again go dancing in the NCAA tournament. Even with the regular season success and a No. 3 seed in the tournament, the Gamecocks exited early again, this time with a 62- 61 loss to Richmond.
McKie finished his career at South Carolina as the all-time leading scorer, breaking Alex English’s scoring record. He won All- American Honors his junior season and credits all of his accomplishments to one thing.
“Hard work pays off. I owe a lot of credit to my teammates and Coach Fogler and his staff for preparing me so well. It wasn’t B.J. alone; it was a lot of people on that team that sacrificed for me, and I know that. A lot of people helped put me in the position to be successful. I really worked hard, and it paid off.”
Following his time at South Carolina, McKie continued his basketball career in Europe. He quickly found out the differences in the game. The 35- second shot clock, the communication challenges with the head coach, and the physical style of play was different for McKie. Even with the challenges, McKie says it gave him an opportunity to grow as a person and learn a lot about himself.
After his retirement in 2010, he took a year off from basketball before pursing a career in coaching. One of the openings that was available was at Charleston Southern University where Barclay Radebaugh, who was an assistant at South Carolina under Fogler during McKie’s time as a Gamecock, was the head coach. Despite the previous relationship between Radebaugh and McKie, he wasn’t given any preferential treatment by the head coach.
Since being chosen for the position, McKie has enjoyed a smooth transition. The biggest adjustment that McKie has had to deal with comes with patience.
“Every kid isn’t going to respond the same way the next kid is going to respond. I just try to take what I learn over the course of the year and apply it out on the court and teach them how I feel or how I would feel comfortable and translate it to my coaching.
Coaching gets hard every now and then, but it’s basically trying to relate to your players. Hopefully, if you can relate to your players, they’ll respond and composite things out on the floor.”
Being a former player gives McKie an advantage.
“It helps all the time. You know when players are really getting after it or struggling or have hit that wall where they feel that they can’t give anymore; it helps out in a great way.”
McKie hasn’t thought much about progressing up the coaching tree; instead he wants to enjoy his time at Charleston Southern.
The basketball season brought on more challenges than just those in the Charleston Southern men’s basketball program for McKie. His son is a junior on the Irmo boy’s basketball team, which is coached by Whipple. McKie says he is able to attend games at Irmo on a regular basis. McKie says he also still keeps up with Gamecock athletics.
Next Week: Brookland-Cayce’s Kip Bouknight
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