Wake Forest Athletics
McKie, Deacs Prepared for Road Ahead
8/13/2020 3:09:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Les Johns
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Be ready.
That approach helped BJ McKie become the all-time leading scorer in South Carolina basketball history and helped him navigate an 12-year professional career that sent him around the globe playing for nearly a dozen different clubs.
He was also ready when he received a phone call from Steve Forbes late on Wednesday, April 29.
"I got the job," Forbes told McKie. "You guys need to be ready to roll in my driveway at six-o-clock in the morning. Pack for a week, and we're out."
So McKie joined Forbes on the trip from Johnson City, Tennessee the following morning as Forbes became the new men's basketball coach at Wake Forest.
"I didn't know where we're staying or anything," McKie said. "I was gone for about seven days. As a coach, you always have to be ready, because you never know. The interview process happens so fast, you just never know."
The process moved quick, but McKie was in the loop throughout.
"I woke up one morning and saw I had a numerous amount of texts," he said about the rumors that linked Forbes to the new opening with the Demon Deacons. "I didn't know everything that was going on early, but Coach Forbes was very transparent with us as he went through the process. Because we're going through Covid, everybody is paying attention to Twitter and what was going on."
An Irmo High School (S.C.) product, McKie finished his Gamecock playing career with 2,119 points, becoming one of just five players to eventually have their jersey retired. After starting his professional career in the Continental Basketball Association, McKie continued with several overseas stints. He was named Player of the Year in Germany, where he led the league in scoring in 2003 and 2004.
"You always have to stay ready for that moment," McKie said. "That's what we teach our guys. You never know when your number is going to be called. You have to be prepared for anything in life in general."
During his professional career, McKie bounced around in countries like France, Cyprus, Italy, and Israel.
"It's been a blast. It's helped me grow as a person, meeting different people of different ethnicities and different cultures," he said. "I've really had a great experience with the game of basketball.
"It doesn't matter where you come from or what you believe in, there are great people from different backgrounds and cultures all over the world. I've developed great relationships with people from Israel, Germany and Italy. We still stay in contact. I've watched their kids grow up and they've watched mine grow up. It's along the same lines of what we're dealing with today in America. There shouldn't be any need to look at color. It's what's inside of the person."
McKie knew early on he wanted to parlay his successes on the court into a future on the sidelines.
"Going into my sophomore or junior year, I knew I wanted to get into coaching college basketball," he said. "I've always had good mentors and good coaches that cared about their players, from the superstars of the team to the last guy on the bench. I've been blessed with having those coaches and mentors. That enabled me to want to give back to the younger generation and feed off some of the experiences I've gone through, both positive and negative.
"I was blessed to go into coaching after playing overseas. One of my coaches from South Carolina, Barkley Redabbah at Charleston Southern, gave me an opportunity shortly after I finished playing. I was blessed that somebody was willing to step out on the limb and believe in me."
After six seasons at Charleston Southern, he got an opportunity to join Forbes at ETSU prior to the start of the 2017-18 season.
"I remember the first time I met coach Forbes," McKie said. "We were at Hargrave Military, sitting next to each other. We talked about basketball and some of the guys we were recruiting. He was looking at a higher level, being at Wichita State while I was at Charleston Southern. We had a really good talk."
Although the opportunity with ETSU came just a couple weeks before the start of classes, McKie could tell that Forbes was an up-and-coming coach in the industry.
"What the hell are we talking about," McKie's wife Brittany advised. "We need to go."
It didn't take long for McKie to realize he'd made a great decision.
"It was immediate, just as soon as I got there," he said. "You could feel the love I got from the families who were already there, even as my wife was still back in Charleston for almost an entire year as she transitioned in her job. She was director of hotels for Hilton, so she had to stay behind my first year.
"I would spend time at the Forbes' house for dinner, and got to spend time together talking about basketball and learning about each other. I knew from the first time that we got on the floor together that it was the place I needed to be."
The Buccaneers went a combined 79-23 the last three seasons, and were winners of the Southern Conference Tournament last season en route to an NCAA Tournament appearance, prior to its cancelation because of Covid-19.
McKie is confident the same formula that provided success in Johnson City will work in Winston-Salem.
"We need to get out in the community, which Coach Forbes has done as best as possible given the Covid situation," he said. "We need to make ourselves visible to help get the community excited about Wake Forest Basketball again. We need to start from the ground and work our way up.
"We pretty much did the same thing at East Tennessee State. It's been proven that it can be done here too, when Coach Odom and Prosser were here. We have to get guys to believe in what we're doing, both with the current roster and the guys you're trying to recruit. They have to be willing to take a chance on us, just like we're taking a chance on them. We have to trust each other. When you develop trust and cohesiveness as a unit, that's going to be tough to beat."
Deacon Nation is ready for that.
That approach helped BJ McKie become the all-time leading scorer in South Carolina basketball history and helped him navigate an 12-year professional career that sent him around the globe playing for nearly a dozen different clubs.
He was also ready when he received a phone call from Steve Forbes late on Wednesday, April 29.
"I got the job," Forbes told McKie. "You guys need to be ready to roll in my driveway at six-o-clock in the morning. Pack for a week, and we're out."
So McKie joined Forbes on the trip from Johnson City, Tennessee the following morning as Forbes became the new men's basketball coach at Wake Forest.
"I didn't know where we're staying or anything," McKie said. "I was gone for about seven days. As a coach, you always have to be ready, because you never know. The interview process happens so fast, you just never know."
The process moved quick, but McKie was in the loop throughout.
"I woke up one morning and saw I had a numerous amount of texts," he said about the rumors that linked Forbes to the new opening with the Demon Deacons. "I didn't know everything that was going on early, but Coach Forbes was very transparent with us as he went through the process. Because we're going through Covid, everybody is paying attention to Twitter and what was going on."
An Irmo High School (S.C.) product, McKie finished his Gamecock playing career with 2,119 points, becoming one of just five players to eventually have their jersey retired. After starting his professional career in the Continental Basketball Association, McKie continued with several overseas stints. He was named Player of the Year in Germany, where he led the league in scoring in 2003 and 2004.
"You always have to stay ready for that moment," McKie said. "That's what we teach our guys. You never know when your number is going to be called. You have to be prepared for anything in life in general."
During his professional career, McKie bounced around in countries like France, Cyprus, Italy, and Israel.
"It's been a blast. It's helped me grow as a person, meeting different people of different ethnicities and different cultures," he said. "I've really had a great experience with the game of basketball.
"It doesn't matter where you come from or what you believe in, there are great people from different backgrounds and cultures all over the world. I've developed great relationships with people from Israel, Germany and Italy. We still stay in contact. I've watched their kids grow up and they've watched mine grow up. It's along the same lines of what we're dealing with today in America. There shouldn't be any need to look at color. It's what's inside of the person."
McKie knew early on he wanted to parlay his successes on the court into a future on the sidelines.
"Going into my sophomore or junior year, I knew I wanted to get into coaching college basketball," he said. "I've always had good mentors and good coaches that cared about their players, from the superstars of the team to the last guy on the bench. I've been blessed with having those coaches and mentors. That enabled me to want to give back to the younger generation and feed off some of the experiences I've gone through, both positive and negative.
"I was blessed to go into coaching after playing overseas. One of my coaches from South Carolina, Barkley Redabbah at Charleston Southern, gave me an opportunity shortly after I finished playing. I was blessed that somebody was willing to step out on the limb and believe in me."
After six seasons at Charleston Southern, he got an opportunity to join Forbes at ETSU prior to the start of the 2017-18 season.
"I remember the first time I met coach Forbes," McKie said. "We were at Hargrave Military, sitting next to each other. We talked about basketball and some of the guys we were recruiting. He was looking at a higher level, being at Wichita State while I was at Charleston Southern. We had a really good talk."
Although the opportunity with ETSU came just a couple weeks before the start of classes, McKie could tell that Forbes was an up-and-coming coach in the industry.
"What the hell are we talking about," McKie's wife Brittany advised. "We need to go."
It didn't take long for McKie to realize he'd made a great decision.
"It was immediate, just as soon as I got there," he said. "You could feel the love I got from the families who were already there, even as my wife was still back in Charleston for almost an entire year as she transitioned in her job. She was director of hotels for Hilton, so she had to stay behind my first year.
"I would spend time at the Forbes' house for dinner, and got to spend time together talking about basketball and learning about each other. I knew from the first time that we got on the floor together that it was the place I needed to be."
The Buccaneers went a combined 79-23 the last three seasons, and were winners of the Southern Conference Tournament last season en route to an NCAA Tournament appearance, prior to its cancelation because of Covid-19.
McKie is confident the same formula that provided success in Johnson City will work in Winston-Salem.
"We need to get out in the community, which Coach Forbes has done as best as possible given the Covid situation," he said. "We need to make ourselves visible to help get the community excited about Wake Forest Basketball again. We need to start from the ground and work our way up.
"We pretty much did the same thing at East Tennessee State. It's been proven that it can be done here too, when Coach Odom and Prosser were here. We have to get guys to believe in what we're doing, both with the current roster and the guys you're trying to recruit. They have to be willing to take a chance on us, just like we're taking a chance on them. We have to trust each other. When you develop trust and cohesiveness as a unit, that's going to be tough to beat."
Deacon Nation is ready for that.
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