MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Love_for_the_Game]

And another thing, they lost 3 confer. games and only won 18 games!!! For the so called best team to come out of the SLIAC they did bad. They should of won more games! NOt trying to stir up the pot but better coaching would have won more games and would have went through the SLIAC like a knife going through warm BUTTER LOL 

[Mr. Ypsi]

That is what I heard and I believe it. It might not happen but that is what I heard. And to GS, you dont make any sense. I said that if FU had a better coach they would have gotten farther. Since they had the players that is why they made it to the national tourny. They rode the players and if they would of had a BETTER coach a GOOD coach would have gotten them further. Good players can only take a team so far its the COACHing that takes them to Championships. Just look at WU, FU had more talented players but WU had a way better coach. That is why WU has done what they have done. You take WU coach and put him on FU teams that they had last year, they would have gotten further or won the whole thing. You put Coach Mck. on WU, they lose the first round or dont even make it. I just think they had too good of a team and with a good coach they would have won a lot more games.

To FC news, you might have all of the connections but if this was his final year he would not want you to be telling everyone so you would keep it shhhhh shhh...right

I am just saying what I heard and it was a pretty good SOURCE but we will see. Maybe he will stay another year just so he can prove me wrong

As far as I can recall, NO SLIAC team has ever won a national tourney game.

By WU (and coming right after 'tourney' talk) I am assuming you mean WashU.  If you think Fontbonne had better talent than WashU (but suffered because of their coach), you are probably clinically insane!

If the WashU coach could have won the Walnut-and-Bronze with Fontbonne's players, he would be instantly inducted in the Coaching Hall of Fame.  No disrespect intended to Fontbonne, but get a grip on reality.

[fcnews]

Wow. LOTG you leave me speechless........  That doesn't happen very often.

We gave the good news on Scott Spinner earlier.

Well I would like to send PROPS out to a fellow poster. I received an email from Bunchtime. He passed the BAR exam and is now a practicing attorney and with a firm in the St. Louis area.

Always great to hear about a SLIAC kid doing well. Props.

[hopefan]

Now that he's passed the boards, maybe the old Buncher will find some time to post!!!  -  I miss the positive spin he always gave us on the Gorlocks!!!!

[Gregory Sager]

As far as I can recall, NO SLIAC team has ever won a national tourney game.

Correct. The SLIAC is 0-13 in D3 tourney play, and Fontbonne's three-point loss to UMHB two tournaments ago was not only the closest by far that any SLIAC team has come to winning a tourney game, it's also only the second instance in which a SLIAC team kept the final margin under 16 points. The average final margin by which SLIAC teams have lost in the dance is 23 points. That's a big part of what LOTG seems to be missing here: The perspective on D3 as a whole and the SLIAC's place within it.

The SLIAC just doesn't turn out teams that are national championship contenders, for a variety of reasons that have been discussed many times in this room over the years, and the recent Fontbonne teams were no exception. To think otherwise is to betray a naive view of D3 men's basketball. As I said, Coach McKinney got about as much out of those teams as anyone could've reasonably been expected to do.

By WU (and coming right after 'tourney' talk) I am assuming you mean WashU.  If you think Fontbonne had better talent than WashU (but suffered because of their coach), you are probably clinically insane!

If the WashU coach could have won the Walnut-and-Bronze with Fontbonne's players, he would be instantly inducted in the Coaching Hall of Fame.  No disrespect intended to Fontbonne, but get a grip on reality.

Couldn't have said it any better myself, Chuck.

[Love_for_the_Game]

That is the way I feel, everyone has thier own oppinion. If everyone thinks I am nuts, I can live with that. Well anyways, practice starts this week and want to know how the teams are looking. I will prob. make my way to wacth Fontbonne practice. TEll me if anyone else will be doing anything like that.

[hopefan]

aaaahhhhhh   all around the country, the basketballs are starting to bounce, the coaches whistles shrill loudly....   spring, summer... hell you say!!!   THIS is the best time of the year!!!!!!

[fcnews]

You got that right Hopefan. A little sunshine in what has been two straight weeks of clouds and rain.

Word from the Fontbonne camp: Transfer and big man Sean Gibson (Sikeston, MO) has chose to sit out the first semester this season. Sean is caught in an odd semester regarding the 10 semester rule. He has 3 remainig. He will join the team following the last class this semester. That way he will have a full season the year he graduates.

Sean was top 25 in rebs and top 50 in fg% in jucoII last year. So the competition starts between Riva, freshmen Ronnie Rust and transfer Jamhal Thomas for the starting post spot. All three are 6'7 and will have adequate size. Given the right guy at the 5 spot. Rust is probably a good fit for the PF. Would make for a sizeable team on the floor, if that's the way it plays out.

[fcnews]

WOW No one is really talking about anything! It is getting close to the season and everyone is speechless so far. Well I was going to wait but I guess I am going to bring this information out now. I heard from a GOOD source that Fontbonnes Coach Lee Mckiney will coach his last year. This will be his last year coach and working for Fontbonne. It was a great and long run and hopefully he can go out in a bang.

LOTG - Wrong on both accounts.

Now that he's addressed his team and coaches. Coach McKinney announced today that he was retiring as Fontbonne's A.D. at the end of the year. But, will return next year as the Griffin's Head Mens Basketball Coach. School President Dennis Golden then spoke to the team and reiterated that Coach had a lifetime contract. "It will be Coach's decision when he's ready".

So he will be on the sidelines next year and will be employed by Fontbonne.

[y_jack_lok]

Sounds like a great move for Coach McKinney. Being an A.D. is lots of work and often dealing with a number of difficult and/or unpleasant matters. But being able to continue to do what you love for as long as you want -- well, who could ask for anything more?

[fcnews]

I agree Yjak. We all should be so lucky.

Coach came to Fontbonne 22 years ago. Enrollment was just over 300 and only about 30 were men. Two club sports (volleyball and field hockey) and about 30 student athletes. Today there are 19 teams and over 350 student athletes. Thats a large responsibility and a lot of work.

Now he will doing what he loves, without all the headaches. Like you said, we should all be so lucky.

[Love_for_the_Game]

That is great, I know I give him a hard time but I just see it how it is. I was alittle wrong about his retiring as head coach but was right about him stepping down for something.  I wish him all good things and will see if he is back next year. Will be attending Websters practice today to see how they match up against Fontbonne. Was there yesterday and saw that they do have some big guys. They will not be as small as everyone thinks but will be missing Jusin S. and Brian F. Should still be a good team with Josh B, Chris F., and Daniel L. I cant wait til the season STARTS

[fcnews]

Fontbonne University has the official school release on the front page at fontbonne.edu. Also, on the SLIAC website.

Fontbonne Coaching Icon to Lighten the Load

October 16th, 2009
ST. LOUIS — Fontbonne University announced today that its long-time athletic director and head men's basketball coach will be stepping down — but not completely.

Lee McKinney, 72, has served the university for 23 years and will retire as athletic director next June at the end of the academic school year. He will stay on, however, to continue coaching men's basketball.

"Lee has been a mentor and role model for countless student-athletes in his time at Fontbonne, and I can't thank him enough for the guidance and leadership he's provided over the years," said Dr. Dennis Golden, Fontbonne president. "We understand Lee's desire to enjoy more time with his family, but we're fortunate that he's agreed to continue leading a great tradition of men's basketball at Fontbonne University."

During McKinney's tenure at Fontbonne, the athletic department has grown from three to 19 teams, and the number of student-athletes has jumped from 35 to the current 350. McKinney was instrumental in bringing Fontbonne into the National Collegiate Athletic Association and in establishing the university as a founding member of the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

"Being a part of Fontbonne University has been an exciting and challenging experience," McKinney said. "My greatest pleasure has always been working with the young men and women who have traveled through my life the last 23 years. Knowing that I've been able to touch their lives, if even for a short while, and that many of them have become lifelong friends, has been so rewarding."

"To put into words what Lee McKinney has meant to the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference is impossible. Simply put, without him the SLIAC would not be what it is today. Lee is the final link to the SLIAC's charter in September 1989 and his presence, knowledge and historical reference will be deeply missed by our Administrative Council," SLIAC Commissioner William J. Wolper said. "He has been a champion for Division III athletics and student-athletes for more than two decades, and has served and represented the Conference so well at many levels including his current position on the NCAA Division III Management Council.

"Personally, Lee has been a tremendous resource and sounding board for me during my tenure with the SLIAC, and I will continue to call on his expertise for the betterment of the Conference and our student-athletes. I look forward to working with him on the Administrative Council through the remainder of this year and on basketball related matters deep into the future. Lee McKinney truly epitomizes what is good about Division III."

McKinney is zeroing in on a lofty coaching milestone; he's eight wins shy of 800 for his career. That achievement might have seemed out of reach when McKinney began coaching in 1959 at the local high school in Qulin, a tiny town in Missouri's Boot Heel region. But the gregarious coach persevered and — notwithstanding two battles with cancer — is ready to lead the Griffins for the foreseeable future.

"I still have a passion for coaching, and I plan to continue to put my future time and effort into our basketball team," McKinney said. "I'm pleased that I'll still have that connection with not only the students, but also members of the athletic department for whom I have deep appreciation and respect."

[iwumichigander]

WOW No one is really talking about anything! It is getting close to the season and everyone is speechless so far. Well I was going to wait but I guess I am going to bring this information out now. I heard from a GOOD source that Fontbonnes Coach Lee Mckiney will coach his last year. This will be his last year coach and working for Fontbonne. It was a great and long run and hopefully he can go out in a bang.

LOTG - Wrong on both accounts.

Now that he's addressed his team and coaches. Coach McKinney announced today that he was retiring as Fontbonne's A.D. at the end of the year. But, will return next year as the Griffin's Head Mens Basketball Coach. School President Dennis Golden then spoke to the team and reiterated that Coach had a lifetime contract. "It will be Coach's decision when he's ready".

So he will be on the sidelines next year and will be employed by Fontbonne.

This is a good move for Coach McKinney and Fontbonne.

It is extremely difficult to fill both A.D. and Head Basketball Coach positions in the same year unless strong internal candidates exist.  Getting the A.D. decision out there now gives Fontbonne the time to properly evaluate candidates and make a decision best for the Athletic Department and University.  McKinney has done an outstanding job at Fontbonne.

[fcnews]

This decision actually started about May. Coach, having served on the NCAA Mangement Committee the past couple of years, realized there are only a handfull of institutions with programs this size still with AD / coaches. It is just got to be to big of a job to do both.

He has had no desire to leave the sidelines. With Lisch and Rust being freshmen, I'd say 3 more years at least.

But, It was time to release the wheel on what he had built. The AD job is a huge wieght to bare for anyone. And making the decision this early, gives Fontbonne time to evaluate good Candidates.

Coach starts his first year as a member of the NCAA Midwest Region Basketball Committee.