Bones McKinney

Bones McKinney (1919-1997)

Teams coached: Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Wake Forest record: 122-94 (.565)
Overall record^: 122-94 (.565)

Career Accomplishments:

• NCAA National Championships:  0
• NCAA Tournament Appearances:  2  (1961, 1962)
• NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen:  2  (1961, 1962)
• NCAA Tournament Final Four:  1  (1962)
• NIT Championships:  0
• NIT Appearances:  0
• ACC Regular Season Champion:  1  (1962)
• ACC Tournament Champion:  2  (1961, 1962)

Awards:

• ACC Coach of the Year:  2  (1961, 1962)

Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):

1969-1971	Carolina Cougars
1957-1965	Wake Forest
1952-1957	Wake Forest (asst)
1950-1951	Washington Capitols

Bones McKinney Facts

• Horace Albert McKinney
• Born January 1, 1919
• Died May 16, 1997
• Hometown: Lowland, North Carolina
• Alma Mater: University of North Carolina (BA, 1946)
• Played at Durham HS (NC), where he starred on a team that won 69 straight games and three state championships
• Started his collegiate career at NC State, playing for the Wolfpack for two seasons under head coach Bob Warren
  • Left school in 1942 to serve in the US Army during World War II
• Returned in 1945 to finish his degree and career at North Carolina; played one season for Ben Carnevale
  • During his lone season at UNC, helped lead the Tar Heels to a NCAA Runner-up finish
  • Spent six years in the BAA/NBA with the Washington Capitols (1946-50) and Boston Celtics (1950-52)
  • Played for player-coach Bob Feerick for one season, but was coached for most of his career by Red Auerbach
  • Served as player-coach during the Capitols’ 1950-51 season, spanning just 10 games before the team folded
    • As coach, McKinney drafted and signed the NBA’s first black player, Earl Lloyd, out of West Virginia State
• Hired in 1952 to serve as Murray Greason‘s assistant coach at Wake Forest in his home state of North Carolina
  • Elevated to head coach in 1957 when Greason stepped down
    • Coached the Demon Deacons for eight seasons, winning 122 games during that tenure
    • Claimed two ACC Tournament crowns and won the program’s first ACC title in 1962
      • Reached the 1962 NCAA Final Four, the first (and still only) such appearance for Wake Forest
• Later in his career, he coached the Carolina Cougars (ABA) for one and a half seasons; finished 59-67 overall
• McKinney’s second career was in broadcasting, which he did for many years as a color commentator on ACC basketball games
• Inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame (c/o 1970) and the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame (c/o 1973)
• Died of a stroke Raleigh in 1997 at the age of 78; survived by his wife of 55 years, Edna, their two sons and four daughters

Bones McKinney Coaching Tree

• Earl Lloyd (Detroit Pistons)
• Jack Murdock (Wake Forest)
• Jerry Steele (High Point, Carolina Cougars, Guilford)

 

^ overall record includes head coaching positions at the NCAA Division I level only