Latest / Kenny Wallace Media / Lewis McKinney, Jr: Can St. Louis U Basketball Make A Tournament Run? | Charlie Marlow Show

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Lewis McKinney, Jr: Can St. Louis U Basketball Make A Tournament Run? | Charlie Marlow Show · Kenny Wallace Media

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All right. Very pleased to be joined by
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Saint Louis basketball legend Louis McKinney junior.
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We're going to talk about all kinds of topics today.
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Louis, how you doing this morning?
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Charlie, I'm doing good. Thanks so much for having me on
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the show this morning. Oh, the the pleasure's all mine.
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Let's let's start with, of course, what's topical St.
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Louis, you your alma mater having an historic season 27 and
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four. We're recording here on a
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Thursday. They have the A 10 tournament,
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their game on Friday. I checked bracketology right
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now. We'll talk about that for the
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NCAA tournament. But just to start with, you just
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give us your thoughts on what's been an amazing season for the
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Billikens. Charlie, my thoughts are what a
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great group of young men we have representing Saint Louis
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University Billiken basketball. Hats off to the coach.
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He did a great job of pulling together a bunch of individual
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talent that have come together to create quite a collective
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group of basketball players. I think their greatest strength
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is that those guys actually believe in each other and
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collectively they contribute to make a great team.
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And let's talk a little bit about Josh Shirts.
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Yes, and, and Travis Ford had a nice run.
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We can even go back before that. I, I covered the team during the
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Rick Majerus years and then unfortunately after his passing,
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Jim Cruz and those teams that made three straight NCAA
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tournaments. But we're all assuming we're
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hoping the Billikens will get back to the Big Dance.
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Why do you think Josh Shirts has been the right guy here to lead
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them to this unbelievable year? Well, Josh shirt clearly is
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very, very well versed in regard to the entire basketball arena
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right now at the collegiate level.
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And I think you've got to have a coach that's well versed, that
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knows how to go out and identify the right players and how to
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attract them and know what's going to work best for the team
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and individually. You know, I'm not sure where
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these guys would fit in best, but it's Saint Louis University.
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They work very, very well together and that's all because
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of the coach making the right decisions and attracting them
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and convincing them they're working as a unit.
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They could become a very good basketball team and by far they
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are some of the best basketball team in the country right now.
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Yeah. So with this Billikens team,
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when you're watching them, who are you keeping your eye on?
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And we're going to talk about your career as well.
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Anybody on the court that you see a little bit of Lewis
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McKinney junior back in the day, they got a little bit.
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Any elements to your game? Well, you know, there are a
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number of guys on that team that look really good.
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I like Mcatry a lot. I like Quentin Jones a lot.
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Those guys have great mid range games.
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Those guys play with a great deal of intensity and those
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guys, they really work well as a unit.
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And, you know, just speaking about my days when I play, I had
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a great group of guys who worked around me as well.
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And collectively we did the best we could to add to the Billikens
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basketball legacy. I like all those guys.
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Of course, you can't help but not like the big guy Avila,
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right? I mean, he's a very unique type
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of a talent And, and I think they call him the collegiate
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Jokic. You know, that's, that's, that's
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quite a compliment. I I'll, I'll tell him he's a
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great ball player and he's got a lot to aspire to be like Jokic,
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But collectively I like them all.
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And I guess the guy who really does a good job, he's our local
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guy, Kelly things. He can come in and provide the
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spark plug that we need at the right time.
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So, you know, one guy who looked most like me on the floor, asked
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Howard. Hard to say, but collectively as
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a team they're doing a great job.
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And after the the last loss, Josh Shirts said his concern
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level was 10 out of 10. And I don't know if that's coach
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speak trying to motivate the guys entering tournament play.
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I checked Bracketology right before we started this interview
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and this is pretty cool, but we don't know what's exactly going
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to happen like this. But they had Slew as a 10 seed
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playing Kentucky right here in Saint Louis, which would be
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pretty awesome with Slew. With Saint Louis hosting an NCAA
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Tournament first and second round this year, how confident
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are you? Are you, are you a little
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nervous with the way the season ended?
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Are you pretty darn confident this Billikens team is going to
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have a strong postseason? Well, I want to believe that the
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billing is going to have a have a strong postseason, right?
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I mean, you learn a lot along the way.
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And the guys, they work so well together.
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They actually believe in each other a great deal.
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And I just think that, you know, sometimes, you know, your energy
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level can be somewhat not where you need it at the correct time.
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But I think with the experience that they've had, I see nothing
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but upside for the Philippines during the postseason.
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I think they figured it out now. They should have figured it out
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now and they're ready to go. And this is a a good problem to
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have. But when you have such a good
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season, other teams start looking at your coach.
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And there's been a lot of talk about Josh shirts.
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There's been a lot of discussion potentially about Saint Louis U
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and they're happy right now in the A10.
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But there's this Big East talk as well.
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Are you are you confident Saint Louis U will be able to hold on
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to to Josh shirts? It it seems like right now they
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will, but with more success. As we all know, it's a good
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problem to have, but other schools are going to be looking
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at them. You know, I'd like to say I'm
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confident, but it's a new, it's a new era in basketball, as you
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well know. And Josh Shirts came in.
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He has done a great job and other schools can't help but
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look at him in that regard. One of the things I think Josh
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Shirts has got to, you know, make a decision about is does he
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want to be a part of the Saint Louis sports community and the
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community of family? And a number of coaches have
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committed that. I know the previous coach did
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Travis Ford and I know Josh Schurz has that opportunity and
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in Saint Louis will embrace him. Will Saint Louis provide him
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with an opportunity for his program to expand into other
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conferences? I hope so.
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I hope we'll consider that. I think it would be great if we
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were to enter some other conferences.
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I know other conferences have to be looking, looking at our team
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after the season that we had. So am I confident that we can
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hold on to John Church? I'm confident that we can
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provide him with a very well wealthy community for him to
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stay in and to grow his family and to grow his career.
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And, and in a second here, we're going to talk about your career.
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But the reason I bring this up now is everything going on with
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Nil and me personally, I'm, I'm very happy that the players are
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getting compensated. I I'm very happy about that.
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I personally don't love that so many guys are transferring
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non-stop. I understand if you get to a
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place your coach leaves, you get somewhere.
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Maybe you need to to go down down a level, maybe you need to
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go up a level. But I feel like there's too much
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movement now. But again, I'm happy the players
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are getting paid. What do you think about this
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current landscape of college sports?
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I think you and I are on the same page.
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I think it's a good thing that the kids are getting paid.
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And I think it's not a good thing that they're transferring
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so much, you know, every season. I mean, it makes it really,
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really tough for a program, you know, to, to, to, to build for
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the future because every year they've got to try to reinvent
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themselves. And so I'm, I'm hoping that at
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some point we'll continue to build on what has started in
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terms of the NIL and the transport portal and we can
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start to nurture some young men in our program because most
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important is their education. And I can say that from my own
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personal experience, you know, you've got to focus in regard to
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your education. You got to make sure you come
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out of these programs with the support that you need from an
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education perspective, that if your basketball career doesn't
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take you to the next level, you can trans, transition into a
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successful career. And so I'm hoping that the
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portal and I'm hoping that the NC 2A takes all of that into
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consideration. They understand what's in the
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best interest of the kid as well as in the best interest of the
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program. What was it like for you playing
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for Saint Louis U in the 70s if people don't know about your
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great career? 20 point score multiple years
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I'm seeing here. Is this correct?
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40 inch vertical? Is that right back in the day?
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It was nice to think that I was getting that high, that's for
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sure. So what was it like playing for
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the Billikens back in the day? Well, it was great.
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And again, the Saint Louis community and the fans and the
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university, they, it really got behind the team and they made
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the US players really feel as though, you know, we were making
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a great contribution in terms of not just entertainment, but to
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the legacy of the Singlish University basketball program.
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But you know, number one, we focus on our education and, and
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most everyone on that team, you know, they, they, they came out
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of there with successful careers and I'm most proud of that at
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Singlish University. We played in the Missouri
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Valley. We are also independent one
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year, and we also went to Conference USA one year.
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So there was a lot of transition, a lot of
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uncertainty. But clearly Saint Louis
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University has made-up their mind that they want a successful
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program. They're committed to the
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program. The community is behind them.
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I mean, it's unbelievable when you go down to Shapeless Arena
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and watch the Billitons play, they're in the empty seat in the
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house and the fans are behind them and this is supporting
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them. And it's got to encourage the
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kids, you know, to go out and do the best that they can.
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And it really puts Saint Louis best foot forward.
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So I'm excited about the program.
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I'm excited about the Saint Louis community being behind the
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program. And I'm just hoping that we can
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hold on to Josh Shirts and we can get a solid program where we
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don't have to think about reinventing ourselves every
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year. So correct me if I'm wrong,
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going back to your career, you have a a great collegiate career
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at the Billikens fifth round pick of the Celtics, correct?
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And then you you have an eye injury.
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Tell tell folks about what happened post college.
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Well, it was. It was really an honor to be
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drafted by the Celtics in the fifth round.
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They didn't have a first round pick that year.
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They had a second and a fourth and a fifth pick.
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So I was that third pick. I joined another Saint Louis
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native, JoJo White, on the team. It was a great experience and
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unfortunately I did sustain an injury and it did cut my career
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short. And upon recovery, I did go on
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to play basketball in the Continental Basketball League.
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And then of course, I played three years over in France.
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So I had an opportunity to to to get the edge out of me in terms
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of my desire to want to play basketball, just not in the NBA.
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But nonetheless, it was extra college.
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So I really enjoyed that opportunity.
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So without the eye injury, you think about being drafted at
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that time by the Celtics and then the Celtics, you got Larry
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Bird, you got Robert Parish, you got Kevin McHale.
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They go on a run there. Do you think about that a lot
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about what? I mean, you're you've obviously
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had a great career. Do you think about a lot what
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what could have been? Well, absolutely you do.
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And again, I was right there on the cusp.
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I was playing well. The Celtics were really invested
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in me and and they saw me as the future.
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I had to the great honor of playing right behind John
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Havlicek. That was his last year on the
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team and I was really learning the Celtic way of playing
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basketball. I had conditioned myself very,
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very well and and things happened for a reason.
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So I guess it was meant for me to go into my role in terms of
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corporate America more so than into the NBA.
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And the NBA was a different animal.
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It was a year just after the ABA had folded, so there are a lot
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of surplus players that were available.
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So it was very competitive. As you know, it was extremely
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physical and it was, it was quite an honor.
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And I had a great time. And I'm and I and I hate that I
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missed that opportunity, but you know, it's fate with habit.
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That was not the bee for Lewis McKinney.
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Well, you perfectly segued into my next topic here.
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You're talking about post basketball, corporate world and
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now the nonprofit world as well. Tell people about your career
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post basketball. Well, I made a decision to to
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want to be a always a Saint Louis guy when I finished high
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school. I had well over 100 offers a
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full rides. I could have went anywhere.
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I actually considered going to other universities, that one in
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particular University of Kansas. But I chose to stay home and I,
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and I chose to stay home because I want to give back to this
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community that was providing me with so much support even at an
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early age. And, and I think it was the
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right decision for a number of reasons.
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A, my family got a chance to, to watch my career.
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My friends got a chance and I got a chance to build
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relationships, which has really sustained me in terms of moving
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forward in my life. After my brief professional
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career, Anheuser Busch embraced me.
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They gave me an opportunity and, and now Saint Louis is home
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after my career. And so when I look out into the
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community and see exactly what Saint Louis means to me, it's
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everything. It's a family type of community.
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The community does get behind its local guys.
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And that's why our sports teams now are so well embraced because
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Saint Louis, you know, we're, we're, we're the, we're the only
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community in, in the country that I know it's important to
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know which high school you went to 1st, right?
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And then you get the greatest support from that community.
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But nonetheless, we embrace our entire community.
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That is funny. I'm from Ohio, Toledo, OH, but
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I've lived here now what I guess 18 years.
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And that is funny that where's you go to high school thing if
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you're not from here, you don't realize and then you get it once
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you get here. So tell folks about your
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nonprofit work. When did that start?
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Did you start some of these programs while you were still
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working at AB And and what are you doing now with all your
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humanitarian work? Well, upon my completion, you
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know, I still had a lot of fuel energy left in the tank.
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And I looked around and I saw, you know, what's going on in
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Saint Louis community and where can I make the greatest impact.
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And at that same time as upon my retirement from corporate
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America, it coincided with the aging of my parents.
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And I saw my parents get into situations where a lot of their
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friends were being displaced from the North city, North
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County community. And I saw there was a gap.
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And that gap was the fact that, you know, those seniors, they
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needed someone to help them to navigate the gauntlet in terms
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of resources available to them so they could age with dignity.
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So I, I, I went on and I started this not-for-profit, it's called
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a caring plus Incorporated. We were previously a caring plus
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foundation, but we've now transitioned to a caring plus
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incorporated and we provide supportive services for the
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north city, north county community and, or the entire
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city of Saint Louis. And so we start helping people
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navigate what resources are available to them to help them
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to age with dignity. And we learned we can make a
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greater impact into helping them to age in their community.
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So we started helping them preserve their homes, help them
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to make them age-related dependent.
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And from there we've expanded. Now we're developing homes for
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seniors in the north city, north County area.
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It's been a great, great blessing for me.
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I thank God for the opportunity. I thank the community for
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embracing me the way we have thus far.
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We provided I think 174 units of senior housing, but in addition
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to that we've expanded to include first time home buyers
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experience as well and we've built about 60 individual
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related houses in the North city, North County area.
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That's amazing. So for folks who who want to
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help, who want to know more, tell people how they get a hold
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of you or the foundation if they want to help.
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Yeah. Well, we started in 2012 and I
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still consider us as an emerging organization.
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We're growing and we're looking to expand our work.
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And if people are interested in in helping us, we can be found
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at a caring plus.org Lewis McKinney and or our Executive
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Director is Alice Logan. And we will welcome anyone who's
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willing to want to work with us, volunteers, donations, etcetera.
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All right, well, we have something in common.
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It's not, it's not basketball talent.
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I never had a a 40 inch vertical.
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I did play a little bit in high school, but I wasn't, I wasn't
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that good whatsoever. But we're both clients members.
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You're on the board of of Triad Bank.
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I've been working with Triad Bank for the last 5-6 years.
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They've been a sponsor for the last 5-6 years.
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I have a rental property business and I always say this,
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it was the best thing I ever did was switching my loans from a
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big National Bank to to Triad Bank, a local bank with
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relationship based banking which you can really tell the
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difference in customer service. So tell folks, Lewis, how you
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got involved with Triad Bank. Well, Charlie, it, it, it all
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coincided about the time when I was at Anheuser Busch late in my
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career and I needed to make an investment and I found Triad
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Bank and Triad Bank being a, a local community bank, I met
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this, the, the leadership there and, and, and I really embraced
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them because they embraced me. I mean, they're adaptable.
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They, they come to each individual, they analyze your
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needs and they figure out how they help your business, not
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just at the present moment, but for the future.
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And so I really appreciated that a great deal about Triad Bank.
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And from there it has progress and that they invited me to take
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a look at their organization and see how I can help them to adapt
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and to continue to provide some greater support in the
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community. And it's one of the best
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decisions I ever made to work closely with Triad Bank and join
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the board. Triad Bank really cares about
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this community. And and I like that because you
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have people who live in Saint Louis, who work in Saint Louis
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and we're a local community bank.
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So you know, we're right here for you.
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When you pick up the phone and call, you're going to get a real
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person on the phone and they're going to work with you to make
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sure you get the best product we can available to help you with
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your banking needs. Yeah, whenever I talk.
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About Triad, I always talk about that relationship based banking.
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I I think we've done probably over the last 5-6 years 7 or 8
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different loans as we're buying and selling rental properties
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and we have, we have two now. We just, we, we bought one this
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past summer and I hadn't done my due diligence with the, the pre
18:35
approval letter. We, we looked at a property
18:37
actually on Memorial Day weekend and we wanted to make an offer.
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And I had to text my guy Matthew Tobin over a holiday weekend,
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which I, I hated doing, but he responded, he got it done for us
18:49
there on the holiday weekend. And and you know, that's a true
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story that I think really reflects what we all talk about,
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which is that relationship based banking, you know the names of
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the people you're working with. When I worked with a big
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National Bank, I felt like just another client, another person.
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You're talking to somebody maybe locally, but also somebody
19:07
nationally. They're maybe not on the same
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page. And you never get that with
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Triad Bank. You know exactly who you're
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talking to, and they know you. That's exactly.
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Right, Charlie, and, and like your experience, I've had a
19:18
similar experience with Triad Bank, but all my friends in the
19:22
community that need banking needs always the director of
19:24
Triad Bank 'cause I feel confident they're going to get
19:27
the personal attention they need and that the bank's going to do
19:30
the best they can to customize a product for them so that they
19:35
can be successful. So Triad Bank is truly a local
19:39
focused bank that does local investing and I and I love that
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because the shareholders are mostly local as well as the
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services that we provide. So Triad Bank, they've been good
19:50
for me. They've helped me with our
19:53
not-for-profit. I know they help a number of
19:55
other not for profits and we're just good community partners
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right before we wrap. Up here, anything else I didn't
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ask you about, whether it's about Triad Bank or a Caring
20:04
Plus, anything that's coming up but Jolly I I I.
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Thank you for this opportunity. In closing, a Karen Plus
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Incorporated, we have one annual event every year that we use to
20:18
help us with our sustainability and that's our annual golf
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tournament. This year will be August 10th at
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Glen Echo Country Club and you'll be hearing more about it.
20:26
We'll get some information out into the marketplace, but we
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invite everyone to come out and enjoy good time and, and help us
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as we address the North city, North County area in terms of
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helping seniors to age with dignity.
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So I appreciate this opportunity to, to, to meet with you today.
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I wish you much success in your career and hopefully I'll see
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you at some of the Triad banking events, outreach programs.
20:52
Absolutely. So a caring plus foundation you
20:55
got Triad Bank, Triad banking.com.
20:57
This has been a lot of fun. Lewis McKinney Junior.
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I really appreciate it. And again, people, people are
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going to be watching and listening to this right as this
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810 tournament starts. So we're hoping for a long run
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in both the conference tournament and hope for the big
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dance for the Billikens, right? Fantastic go.
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Billikens, I'm looking forward to it as well.
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John, love it. Thanks.
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A lot, Lewis. Appreciate it.
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Thank you, Sir. Bye.