Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 1973
From his playing days at Durham High School, N.C. State and North Carolina to his career as a coach at Wake Forest to his familiar voice behind the microphone of ACC basketball telecasts, Bones McKinney has lived his life in basketball before audiences everywhere.
McKinney graduated from Durham High in 1940 after leading his prep club to 69 consecutive wins and three state championships. In 1942, while playing for North Carolina State, McKinney led the Southern Conference in scoring. After being drafted into the Army, he was discharged in 1946 and continued his career at the University of North Carolina and led the Tar Heels to a second place finish in the NCAA Tournament.
McKinney went on to play professionally in the Basketball Association of America with the Washington Capitals and then with the Boston Celtics.
"Every basketball fan in the state of North Carolina knows Bones McKinney," wrote Smith Barrier in his book On Tobacco Road. But no fans love Bones McKinney more than those at Wake Forest University.
Certainly he is known for leading the Southern Conference in scoring while at N.C. State, and for helping North Carolina to the NCAA finals in 1946. But it would be as a coach for the Demon Deacons that Bones would become a regional hero and a nationally regarded personality.
A seminary student in 1951-1952, Bones was added to the Wake Forest basketball staff that season by Murray Greason. He sat beside Greason on the Deacon bench for five years and even served as head coach of the Wake Forest golf program for a time. On March 26, 1957, he inherited the title of head coach when Greason became director of athletics.
Red socks, a seatbelt on the bench, sideline gestures, word games with officials - all were part of the Bones McKinney basketball show at Wake Forest. "I coach as I played," he said. "I'm in all the way. I feel every play, every pass, every call. I react without realizing it."
More than a showman, Bones was also a winner, raising Demon Deacon basketball to unprecedented heights. His teams captured the 1959 Dixie Classic and played in five consecutive ACC Tournament championship games from 1960 through 1964, taking the top prize in 1961 and 1962. The 1962 club advanced to the NCAA Final Four in Louisville, finishing third with a season-ending win over UCLA.
Bones retired from his positions at Wake Forest in 1965 after compiling a 122-94 record over eight seasons. He later returned to the bench with the ABA's Carolina Cougars, but when he is referred to as "Coach," the immediate association will always be with the Old Gold & Black.
McKinney was born in Lowlands in 1919 and died in 1997 following a stroke.
