SLIAC Founding Member To Step Down From AD Post At Fontbonne
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 Lee is the final link to the SLIAC's charter in September 1989 and his presence, knowledge and historical reference will be deeply missed by our Administrative Council," SLIAC Commissioner William J. Wolper said.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.”
Fontbonne University is a Catholic coeducational institution of higher education offering liberal arts and professional programs, as well as accelerated formats for busy adults. Fontbonne was founded in 1923 and is sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. For more information, visit www.fontbonne.edu.
Release Courtesy of Fontbonne University