First of two parts
Joe McKeown and Tom Izzo are two of my favorite visiting Big Ten coaches. They both avoid click-bait sound byte responses. Instead, these two longtime coaches regularly provide thoughtful responses to my thoughtful questions off-podium after their required post-game media scrums.
McKeown began his head women’s basketball coaching in 1986 at New Mexico State around the same time I began my stint as the longest tenured Gopher women’s sports beat reporter locally. He moved on to George Washington in 1989, then Northwestern in 2008, where we began our annual off-podium sit downs.
Last Thursday, McKeown chatted with us after the Minnesota-Northwestern contest, a 79-47 Wildcats defeat. It was his last visit to The Barn as the winningest active coach in Big Ten WBB, having announced last year his retirement after this season.
The host Gophers recognized McKeown before the game, then ran his team out of the gym. The Wildcats never stopped competing and were only outscored 31-29 in the second half; NU outscored Minnesota 20-14 in the final 10 minutes of the contest.
“When you’re coaching every day and you’re in the grind of the Big Ten,” noted McKeown, “you have nights like tonight where you’re so mad. Everybody’s frustrated, but then you realize at the end of the day it’s about your team, your players.”
During his NU stint, McKeown coached Hopkins High School grad Nia Coffey, one of several Minnesota-based prep players that played for him in Evanston, Ill. Coffey was the first Wildcat player to make first team All-Big Ten (2013-14). She later became a WNBA first-rounder (5th overall, 2017) and an All-Star.
McKeown also coached Veronica Burton (7th overall, 2002 W Draft), who this past season was named most improved player with Golden State in its first season in the league. He coached many other players who went drafted.
“More importantly,” reiterated the coach, “it’s the ones that are not the all-Americans, too. They just make Northwestern a great place. Really proud of them.”
The soon-to-be-retired HC also won gold, a 6-0 record as U.S. head coach in the 2016 World University Games. McKeown’s coaching career will be a two-fer — he is the winningest coach at George Washington (441 wins) and Northwestern (over 270 and counting), 17 NCAA appearances, a WNIT runners-up berth, the 2019-20 Big Ten regular season title, conference coach of the year, and runner-up to Dawn Staley for national top coaching honors that season as well.
McKeown also is a proud father of three, including up-and-coming broadcaster Meghan McKeown, who is the mother of his first grandchild. He and his family are active in the Autism Speaks Foundation, a national organization that promotes awareness and raises money to fight against autism.
His last season after over four decades on the sidelines — McKeown held assistant jobs at Oklahoma and Kent State, his alma mater, before he was elevated to HC — is not a “farewell tour” despite him being honored everywhere he goes this season. There’s too much coaching left to do.
“I wanted this season to be really, really memorable for him right now,” said NU Associate HC Tangela Smith on McKeown. “It’s not going the way we planned. But you know, we have a long way to go.”
Finally…
The 1982 Cheyney State NCAA Final Four team is among the nominees as eligible candidates for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2026. They are the first and only HBCU team to compete for a national title. The finalists will be announced Feb. 9.
Next week McKeown talks about Smith, who has been with him for eight seasons, and her progression as a coach.
Charles Hallman welcomes reader comments to challman@spokesman-recorder.com.