EDWIND MCGHEE – NORTH PARK UNIVERSITY MEN’S BASKETBALL ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH – EPISODE 740

Website – https://athletics.northpark.edu/sports/mens-basketball

Email – emcghee@northpark.edu

Twitter – @EdwindMcGhee

Edwind McGhee is the Men’s Basketball Associate Head Coach at North Park University in Chicago, Illinois.  McGhee joins North Park after coaching for four years at NAIA Lincoln College, spending last season as the team’s head coach. In his season at the helm, McGhee guided Lincoln to a Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) tournament runner up finish and picked up a pair of wins against nationally ranked opponents.

Prior to joining the Lynx, McGhee spent two seasons as the national post graduate Head Coach at Victory Rock Prep in Bradenton, Florida. During his two seasons at the prep school level, McGhee also served as the Associate Head Coach of the Victory Rock Prep National team.

Edwind played his college basketball at DePaul University from 2010-2014 where he was a 4-year letter winner. He began his career as a walk-on, and ultimately earned a full ride scholarship by his junior year. McGhee got his start in coaching in 2014, as a Graduate Assistant for DePaul University spending two seasons at his alma mater.

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Take some notes as you listen to this episode with Edwind McGhee, Men’s Basketball Associate Head Coach at North Park University.

What We Discuss with Edwind McGhee

• Growing up in Chicago and competing with his brothers
• His memories from playing high school basketball and a friend who passed away
• The story of walking on at DePaul and how it almost didn’t happen
• “The reason why I love the game is just being able to meet and impact new people.”
• Earning a scholarship and becoming a co-captain by his junior season
• His personal 8-0 run against Providence
• Staying on as a GA at DePaul with Coach Oliver Purnell following his playing career
• Why starting out in coaching is very humbling
• Learning to serve others as a young coach
• The different experiences he’s had across multiple levels of coaching
• “Not chasing that opportunity, but knowing I am in the right spot where I was supposed to be impacting a certain group of people.”
• Why delegating is so important to both head coaches and assistant coaches
• You take everything personally as a head coach
• Having people in your corner that will lift you up
• His one season as a head coach at Lincoln College and the feelings he had when the school had to shut down
• Getting his opportunity at North Park and coaching D3 basketball

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THANKS, EDWIND MCGHEE

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TRANSCRIPT FOR EDWIND MCGHEE – NORTH PARK UNIVERSITY MEN’S BASKETBALL ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH – EPISODE 740

[00:00:00] Mike Klinzing: Hello and welcome to the Hoop Heads Podcast. It’s Mike Klinzing here without my co-host Jason Sunkle tonight. But I am pleased to be joined by Edwind McGhee, the Associate Head Men’s Basketball Coach at North Park University in Chicago, Illinois. Edwind, welcome to the Hoop Heads Pod.

[00:00:14] Edwind McGhee: Mike, thanks so much for having, really appreciate you.

[00:00:17] Mike Klinzing: Absolutely! Excited to have you on. Looking forward to diving into all the things that you’ve been able to do in your basketball career, both as a player and as a coach. Let’s go back in time to when you were a kid. Tell me a little bit about your first experiences with the game of basketball.

[00:00:30] Edwind McGhee: So grew up in the Michael Jordan era and obviously I was too young to kind of understand what was going on, but we were raised in Chicago? So we had all this Bulls stuff around.  My mom was a fan, her being born in Chicago and I two brothers actually so that’s kind of where it started off. And then from there kind of took off to playing like some YMCA fifth grade basketball. So that was kind of my first love and first passion.  I would play with different teams anywhere I could, in gym, some playgrounds, my brother and I against other neighbors.  Basketball has been part of me for a while.

[00:02:34] Mike Klinzing: How competitive were you and your brother?

[00:02:35] Edwind McGhee: Very competitive. and he’ll, probably say something different, but we grew up in a competitive family and winning it’s not everything, but it’s important.  At the end of the day was what you continued competitiveness

I would say that I’m still that fiery competitor I was back when I was eight to 10 years old.

[00:03:36] Mike Klinzing: What do you remember about your early youth basketball coaches? Is there one particular one that stands out or something that you learned from one of those coaches that you still carry with you today?

[00:03:46] Edwind McGhee: Absolutely. There’s probably quite a few but, but one in particular is seventh grade coach.

It didn’t matter how old we were, it didn’t matter where we were from. He coached us if we were trying to win national championships.

Growing up you sometimes don’t have the most perfect mechanics when it comes to shooting the basketball. So I would be shooting the basketball with two hands.

From sixth grade to seventh grade that was at our middle school.

Ever since then I would credit the way that I was able to shoot the basketball to those times where he’s learning basketball’s, so appreciate you. A lot of people will get as far as a coach who takes time, especially at that age that really wants see you succeed and really wants see you better. So it was definitely him. That kind of sparked my interest in the game at high level.

[00:05:34] Mike Klinzing: Absolutely. I mean, having somebody that takes that interest in you at a young age, obviously that can have a huge impact on your development as you go forward, it sounds like. So again, you’re talking about sixth grade into seventh grade. It sounds like you were pretty serious about your game. As you said, it was the only sport really that you were playing.

So what’d you do? In the time you could take it from, let’s say, as a high school player, what were some of the things that you were doing to get yourself better? How much were you playing pickup basketball? How much were you playing AAU basketball? How much were you in the gym working on your game by yourself?

Just gimme a little bit of an idea of what your routine was. Let’s look at maybe an off-season, a summer, off-season in high school. What did that looked like for you?

[00:06:11] Edwind McGhee: Yeah, for sure. So I’m originally from Champaign, Illinois and basketball players in that area and would play at the parks. We call the six pack was on campus. And well, the six pack Saturday probably from all over the town that’s going to play the six pack and there’s, there’s three courts that’s going on at one time and there’s a winners court and so on and so forth. And it was extremely competitive. And so the summer, that’s what I would do, I’ll probably not getting the most shot attempts, but I’m playing my tail off trying to try to prove my worth and be able to hang on one of those teams and picked last those.

So that’s what I did. You first, like freshman and sophomore in high school. Toward my junior and senior year I kind of leaned more into getting more skill development at school and had aguy who coached years ago. He, he used to hold sessions at our high school and we’ll be in there for about hour and half hours working skill development, working on Different skills.

Junior year.That was the first I started actually playing freshman. I started playing football.  That was my freshman year. And then I think it was, maybe it was summer training camp or something like that. I had like strained ligament in hurt.

I’m stick this hoop thing. And you know, going into my sophomore year I told all my friends, I was like, yeah, I’m just going to stick to the basketball thing. And, I was a decent athlete, so I could catch the ball, I could run a little bit. So he saw some promise in me, I guess on the football field. He would come get me out of class just to talk to me about playing and hey, we’re going to play as a sophomore in.  I’m like, nah, coach, I’m good.

[00:09:17] Mike Klinzing: That sounds like a lot of football coaches I know.

[00:09:21] Edwind McGhee: I’m like coach. So actually my homeboy in on it too, like, man, have to get Edwin, have to get Ed to play. So guy, my guys got, so I decided to play my, my junior and senior year football was,

was basketball into, into my senior year. And, and that’s when I was really in the gym really hard. And the same time I was in the gym at that time was the same time that we had football coach, coach basketball. I’ll be there for the first official practice, but you know, this summertime window I have is dedicated to hoops.

Understood. So  hoops as well as football season had occurred. So high school basketball when our rivals won the state championship and they had to run through us at the regional tournament, so super competitive basketball players. So it was something that I always looked back to and like, man, that was fun.

[00:11:03] Mike Klinzing: That’s obviously a great memory. Do you have another one, something that sticks out as your favorite memory from playing high school basketball?

[00:11:09] Edwind McGhee: That’s a great question. I do, I, so my senior year we had a fellow, fellow classmate who didn’t play basketball. He was a tennis player. But he was just like the ideal guy. And the ideal student. Like,

he’ll, six of us in there. So it’s just like we always had this interaction and he was Illinois.

You better not go to Purdue. I was like, gotcha. During our senior year he had surgery on his gallbladder and he didn’t wake up from the surgery and we were devastated.  We heard the news we’re just like, there’s no possible way that it, it could be him. Right. And our senior day myself and a couple of our other students, or in the class idea wristbands wrote KB. All wore game. We had a student section that was maroon and they, everybody had their kb wristband to remember. My point guards pushing the ball throws with me forever. And you know, it was a sad moment, but at the same time, we knew that KB was still in there with us. And that was probably not even, probably, that was the most memorable moment, had basketball concerned.  

[00:13:40] Mike Klinzing: I can completely understand when you have somebody that you’re close to that you lose.

And then as you said, it’s a sad moment at the same time to be able to experience that and to, in some small measure, try to be able to dedicate that game or that experience to him. I’m sure a was meaningful in the moment. And then clearly, however, many years later, 10, 15 years later, you’re still remembering that and it’s going to be with you, as you said, for the rest of your life.

Without question. As you started to look ahead as your high school careers coming to an end, what were your thoughts in terms of going to college? I know you ended up as a walk on at De Paul, was your thought process. I want to try to play at the division one level and, and go and, and walk on. Was your, was your thought process of, Hey, I had some other smaller offers and just decided this was the best fit for me.

Just talk, walk me through your mindset at that point.

[00:14:30] Edwind McGhee: Yeah, for sure. Just be completely honest, I think I was young and naive. To be honest, I had some division threes, division twos junior colleges. I had some interest from several different colleges and didn’t

basketball concerned like they’re great parents. They were like every game they supported. My mom had her big camera, they’re filming everything like we were going to the nba, right? So but from the basketball standpoint, understanding recruiting looks like I didn’t, didn’t, didn’t know what a division three offer was.  All I knew was division 1.

Those were the things that I remember and I was like, man, I have to go to, I have to go. So that was kind of how it, that point of getting DePaul and the funniest is my father I a pastor, pastor so or so when I started applying for schools, DePaul wasn’t my radar.

They’re in find out what they’re doing in that march and everything and you know, I was kind of content like you going to university thing there and was you de. I don’t even know where DePaul is. I’m not lie to you. That’s, I told him, I didn’t don’t even know he’s, it’s Chicago. I was like, really? And he was like, yeah.

So he was like, it’s not too late. Like people are getting accepted to places like this, this and this. So I jump on and I’m like, look at that. They got late application process, so,

and tour campus and everything, and immediately fell. Love the city, fell in love with the campus.

[00:17:40] Mike Klinzing: So there’s a lot of people out there, players coaches, that are, I think, are unsure about what the walk-on process looks like. I think there’s probably just like you not knowing a lot about what that process looks like. I think there’s a lot of other people out there that were currently are in the same shoes as you.

So tell us a little bit about what the process was like for you once you decide, okay, I’m going to DePaul then how do you go from, I’m going to attend DePaul University to, I’m going to be a walk-on and get involved with the team. What did that look like?

[00:18:09] Edwind McGhee: Yeah, so that’s it’s probably one of my more fun stories to tell.

So when I first was in Raymond, it’s runs and people come in at night and play basketball. So I was in Raymond day in and day out and there were older upperclassmen that were older,

and I was like, I don’t even know what that is, but yeah, let’s do it. Competitive. I’m, and you freshman.

You might want to try out. And I was like, yeah, definitely. Like what’s the, how does that look and that matter. And there was one guy who came back who actually he was just like, Hey man, you probably should go try out. I think you a good, and that kind of gave the encouragement and you those,

or what happened was there were like you five or six guys that were trying out, and we, and with.

You know, I’m watching these dudes, these dudes are incredible athletes and I’m a decent athlete.

That was my thought process, and I was just like, I know what I’m good at. I know I play I’m competitive. So there was a segment where if conditioning segment, running sprint and first sprint that we ran, I didn’t, I didn’t lose. So I, I beat everybody that was on scholarship. I, everybody that was trying out, like I was running for.

And I didn’t, how, I probably didn’t even shoot the ball. Maybe three, four in

who were scholarship players and some dudes who’ve been at for three years. And so it was, was competitive.

At the time and he called and said, Hey, we want you to come back and just practice few more days with the team and just see how it fits and all these things. So I was like, alright, cool. So I’m, it’s me right of guys that invited back. So it’s, I’m not really in practice. I’m like off to the side drills, handling, handling, drills matter,

you know, being a walk and things of that matter. So I get back to the gym the following day and it’s the, it’s, it’s the and who’s actually Brandon Bailey, who’s now with the Detroit Pistons at the. Brandon called me. He was just like, Hey yeah, come back to the gym and coach there, and he was just like, Hey, Edwin, appreciate you coming. Unfortunately, never forget this conversation, unfortunately, we’re just going to go with the guys we have, but we appreciate you. We hope that you come. We hope that you come back and support the team this year. And like Brandon is standing next to coach and soon Brandon, he’s at thanks.

Like, wait, what do you need to say? I said, he told me that you guys are good. He’s like, he’s just one second like sprints out the door. Go, go, brings back.

Come to practice today. So I’m still like in this phase. I’m like, dunno. So  I’m in practice. I’m scout team already.

Boom. And I was just like, I did not see that coming for myself. But that was nice. So like that was like kind of the on the cake. So when

on the call your parents and let everybody know that you’re officially a Blue Demon and part of the Blue Demon program. And I was obviously very and thankful and super excited. My dad right away is from, so it up and down situation if you would, as far as actually getting on the team.

But nevertheless, the way it should.

[00:24:50] Mike Klinzing: That’s hilarious. I mean, it’s funny just to think about how that whole process went and Brandon, the GA’s have to run out and go get Coach Parnell. That’s just, I mean, I could, I could see it, I can see, I can see that scene playing out in my head. I, I could picture it as clear as day, what that, what that looked like, and again, how you had to be feeling in that moment and trying to figure out, am I on the team?

I seemed like I was going to be, and now maybe I’m not. And then I’m all a sudden and so I’m

[00:25:20] Edwind McGhee: sure everybody’s, I got cut, put on the team in the same day. You never know what happen.

[00:25:26] Mike Klinzing: That’s entirely true when, so once you get that official word and you start practicing with the team and whatever, how did it go in terms of…I know you hear all different kinds of stories depending upon what program you’re with the type of guys that you’re with, and in terms of just the way that the walk-ons are incorporated into the team, and you hear good stories and you hear bad, so I’m assuming that yours, based on what I’m hearing and what I know about you, it sounds like it was probably a pretty good experience for you pretty quickly out of the gate, that the guys brought you into the fold and, and you felt like a part of it right from the start.

[00:26:01] Edwind McGhee: Yeah, 100%. 100%. I think that you know, I’ve, I’ve got friends now that I’ve best friends now that I’ve met on those teams that we still talked about every day, guys who were in my wedding all those things. So it was for me, the reason why I love the game is just being able to meet and impact new people, right?

Like my most memorable moments of being on the team is when new players came in. And there’s new freshmen and we get to develop a relationship with these guys and bring them into the fold and all those things. And that’s how I felt. I felt welcome. You know, when I got on, obviously upperclassmen, freshmen who were scholarship guys that kind of hung out with and got close with.

And the big thing about it was they didn’t treat me like a walkon, right? They invited me to they wanted to open gyms, and events, was always out with each, which was for time for me. And it felt welcome when I got there. And you know, for me it kind of led into having more of a vocal role as far as being on the team.

Which is very rare for that. It ended up by my junior year where coach actually deemed myself and another one of our players co-captainsand that was honor for not playing as, as knowing that had impact on that team and had a voice on that team was huge. And  there’s seniors that’s asking questions about things that I was experience for understand, like, this is kind of what I can do for the rest of my life. I feel like I can be that guy who can bring together a group and encourage and be vocal. Have that impact on people. And that’s how it pretty much started was with that team and being to walk as a team.

So eventually leveraging into a scholarship opportunity in my junior year and I’ll never forget this moment either, we’re on break and it’s Christmas day and

everything’s going, what’s nervous as I get out. Cause I’m like, Christmas Day . And everybody’s like, what happened? Put you on scholarship next semester? I was like, Speechless at one point. I like. Thanks coach. I appreciate it. And you know, I won’t let you down and, and we up after that and I tears start to fall. Now more public stories to get scholarships and which are very stories and the work you put in, has paid off, man. It was, it was nothing like it. And I ran in and I told my parents and they were screaming and yelling.

My thought of man, like your leadership, regardless of if you, or if you didn’t, it mattered, right? You were obviously not, that’s everybody’s dream, right? That’s everybody wants to, but having coach and my teammates,

that’s where I really started for the passion for wanting to stay around the game and eventually leading into coaching. But there is, I’ll say this, I had I guess. my 15 minutes of fame at DePaul. I had an 8-0 run by myself.

Started and went down. We have to stop. I sprinted my tail off to the corner. Our point guard hit me in the cornering. Shoot three bang, go back down sprint, Throws ball.  I’m still like, that’s ball. So, so I’m sprinting and he’s pushing the ball. Our point guards pushing the ball and I have audacity to yell, trail.

He pitches it back to me and I, in like nobody’s business hits the ofri. And it right in. And I’m just myself as I was like, that was my 15 minutes of playing. So when everybody ask me, it was like, how many, what’s your career? I said, I had eight points in a row. And that’s, that’s . That’s awesome. Very How often you pull that out on video?

Oh, yeah. Every time I talk to talk to some of our players and like, did you, Hey man, listen, I had eight in the Big East versus Providence.

[00:32:29] Mike Klinzing: That is very cool. Those are some good stories, Edwin. For sure. So I’m guessing you were a really good student and I know that when you went into school, were you thinking coaching at all when you first went to school or was.

Getting named the captain and kind of just feeling your way through that leadership piece of it and, and really having somebody else recognize that. Is that what led you to think, Hey, maybe coaching’s where I want to go?

[00:32:56] Edwind McGhee: Yeah. When I originally, I wanted to broadcast journalist Sports center. Stuart Scott was my guy, booya, and you know, I wanted Yes, absolutely , absolutely.

And I wanted to be him. And that’s what I went to school for. So I’m in broadcast journalism classes from my freshman and sophomore year. And then I kind of pivoted and I took a class called this, the class is called Communication and Dating. And it was just an elective and it was probably the craziest class I’ve had.

20 other women. It was just me. I was the only guy in the class. And we, these conversations in communication and dating and you know, all the women in the classing professor, no, I do not agree everybody stepping out on that limb. No. And that kind of segue to me getting a double major in relational communication under that umbrella.

All these types of different relationships. And one thing that I kind of focused on in my study particularly was the dynamic of coaches. And those are things that I really kind of tapped into when research coaching styles  even more. So, you know that that’s where I got my master in when I started to be a, but into it. Coaching was so from I basketball that was, that was kind of my thought process heading into, heading into school.

[00:35:06] Mike Klinzing: So, as you get done, And you’re wrapping up your playing career and you’re getting ready to graduate and you start thinking, Hey, coaching’s, what I want to do, I’m assuming you went in and had a conversation with Coach Pernell, if not once, certainly multiple times about what direction you wanted to go with that, and then you ultimately end up getting an opportunity to stay on with the program with the Blue demons as a ga.

So talk about how that came to be.

[00:35:28] Edwind McGhee: Yeah, so I was I had initial conversation with him prior to leaving for the summer. And I talked to him. I was just like, Hey, coach, if there’s opportunity Assistant

things, those things. And you know, he was like, yeah, for sure. You know, we’ll, we’ll, we’ll get in contact with you. And this was probably like May when we had this conversation and then, June of that year I get a call back and, and sat down and he said, do you really want to do this for real ? And I’m like, yeah, coach. Absolutely. He’s like, OK. Said, there’s two things that you have to, you have to either be half crazy or half stupid.

You know, ever since then, I’ll never forget that. When, when he told me that, told me, he’s like, there’s going to days you’re going to miss he was giving examples like, you might miss your, your, your, your daughter’s recital game or. There’s you something that’s going on with the family that you just can’t get to, and he’s just kind of bringing down to like all the things that could happen when it comes to this professional.

I was like at this time I’m two years, I’m not thinking about I’m, yeah. So that’s kind where it started there. And then that August is when I officially joined the staff as a GA with Coach Purnell.

[00:37:11] Mike Klinzing: What was the transition like going from a player under Coach Pernell to being a colleague and working alongside him and kind of seeing what was going on behind the scenes, maybe things that you weren’t necessarily aware of or even knew what was going on as a player?

[00:37:27] Edwind McGhee: Oh, yeah. That’s a great question. I, first of all, it was humbling to say the least. You go from you go from the guy who. One of the guys who’s getting their stuff washed. Right? The guy who’s washing the stuff. Right. Watching the cause I had s had

that their grades are okay and making sure that they’re in the gym and making sure that their jerseys are sure they’re hung up. Like it’s just a humbling experience from that aspect of it.

It’s great experience altogether when it comes to that cause of what I learned. Right. Learn about learning what humility looks. Learning what serving looks like. Right. Which are huge things that you have to have to be I believe that you need to be a effective coach. Right. And those are learned right away, obviously, understanding how to function at a high level as far as college basketball is concerned.

It’s very different, right? Like from a, from a player standpoint you practice, you got weights, you have to, and it’s like keep Right, right. Practice.

There’s a lot of things that, that go into it. Right? And this is kind of what I tell, obviously I’m still a young coach, but this is thing I coaches going or young, young, are trying

basketball as far as being on the floor and doing, that’s just the, that you get everything else right? As far as the organizational aspect of it. Making sure that are line, that’s portion don’t,

I know there’s several younger coaches that I’ve talked to who have a different thought process of what coaching really looks like oh man, I can coach, I can on court day and I’m, yeah, for sure. That’s of it’s very small portion. Yep. Of what goes on, right, the behind the scenes portions of making sure that everything is together and you’re training. Right.

I think a lot of times younger coaches coming up might, might miss on that. They don’t understand that this is the most important, and that’s what I really learned is from, from the outside looking in you know, as a player you just think like, I, what coaches are doing all day?

Why are you guys here so early? You know what I’m saying? Like, we going to till 2:00 PM you know what I’m saying? Like, as a player, if you think, but then there were nights where we’re, we’re travel. Syracuse and we fly back and you know, myself and assistant op guy and a couple of managers we’re, we fly, we fly in, get on the bus, get back, and it’s 12.

But we have, there’s report that coach wants on his desk in the morning and we have to make sure that’s done before we even leave so we can have on his desk and he gets in at seven. And so it’s like those

of like, hey, this is kind of, this is behind the scenes. Like there were days where might sleep at, might sleep in the locker room. You, we have to be, have to back at, I’m waking.

You have to understand and again, part of that humility aspect and that servantship aspect that goes hand in hand when it comes to coaching.

[00:42:10] Mike Klinzing: Those are all really good points that I think a lot of people sometimes miss, especially when you haven’t been in the coaching profession or you just thinking about it.

People see the glamor, but they don’t always see all that behind the scenes stuff in the late night, getting back from a trip and making sure you got this done and you’re in the office at 6:00 AM and you’re there till midnight doing X, Y, or Z. And especially when you’re talking about as not as the head coach, but when you’re on staff and your job is obviously to do whatever it takes to be able to help the program and be able to help your head coach be successful.

And if you. Have a successful career. Those are the things that you’ve have to do. And I think sometimes people go into it with maybe not their eyes wide open about what it takes. And I think very quickly, no matter what level you start at, I think you find out pretty quick that percent, it’s not all, as you said, it’s not all glamor, it’s not all, Hey, I’m just out working with the players, or we’re, we’re diagramming plays, we’re doing Xs and Os.

Yeah, that’s a part of it, but there’s certainly, there’s certainly a lot more that goes into it. As you were wrapping up your time as a ga, what were you thinking about in terms of your career path at that point where you, for sure, hey, I want to stay at the college level. I know you eventually ended up going down to work at a prep school in Florida.

So just tell me a little bit about what your thought process was, and then how that opportunity came to you at Victory Rock Prep.

[00:43:32] Edwind McGhee: Yeah. So by the end of my second year as a GA, I was blessed and fortunate to do one year under coach. And then do my second year under Coach Dave Lado who were both big time mentors for me.

And I can still call to this day which, which is a blessing. So at the end of my second, my second year being obviously approach just asking for just advice and if there’s anything that he know or openings that he knows that I should into and unfortunately to get or to stay on at that point which is which was totally understandable, which I, which was fine at that time. Right? So there was, so there was a guy by the. Jimmy Drew, who I played with who’s actually head coach down at Lincoln, university of Missouri right now. We were teammates and you know, I was freshman, he was senior then became my, was so I’ve, I knew Jimmy for some years

or what’s going on. I’m still looking for some things like I’m still wanting to coach and I want to be around players. I want to learn and I want to grow in this profession. He was like, man, this is a great spot for you. So he actually connected me with Victory Rock, started with  DePaul. Yeah. So I mean, it’s, it’s obviously a different level, right? You as a coach down there, your responsibilities are heightened, right? There’s more, not necessarily more to do, but there’s, you are so close to the players at that level, right? Where you have to make sure everything is all the ducks are in a row, right?

And these are no longer really grown adults that you’re taking care of. These are kids. And think that was the biggest difference. Cause you know, maturity levels are different and how you have to approach situations are different. When it comes to that, and for me it was again, everything

division, what it looks like to coach at a, a high profile prep school level too, right? You know, two different levels. But ultimately it was still a place where I could learn. It was still a place where I could grow. It was still a, where I develop relationships which was, which was pretty, which was all you want to look for when you take jobs, right?

Those things are some key elements to that. Like it’s different, right?

We have to make sure the guys are fed. So we’re Walmart dropping off at Walmart, picking them up, and you, it’s experience,

again, a blessing to have that opportunity to impact another set group of kids. And for, for me it was so much different and so much eye prep school in particular, we had a lot of kids from different countries. And to have a lot of kids from we had South Sudanese kids, we had kids from Belgium, we had a kid from France, we had a kid from Italy.

We had a kid from Croatia, like, and then to have them in this kind of melting pot where you can interact with them and you can learn about their culture and music.

Understand different cultures and, and, and have that experience with those guys and, and try to meet them on a level where everybody, everybody has different backgrounds matter. It’s the game basketball. Right. And that was one thing that forget experience, amount of culture that I was exposed to and of stories that I had from different players about you.

Once they can make their own decisions and feel confident in them, that’s when you know you impacted them in the right way. So that was a wonderful time down there too.

[00:49:26] Mike Klinzing: Building those relationships and going from a staff on a division one level where you have a bunch of guys and a large staff and you can delegate duties and then you go to a situation where, as you said, you’re driving the bus and you’re doing the Xs and Os and you’re washing laundry and you’re building relationships with the kids and you’re doing all the coaching and everything.

I think when you get to be sort of that jack of all trades and get your hand into every piece of coaching, it’s interesting when we’ve talked to coaches at all different levels and you know, some guys break in and they’re at the division three level and they’re the only assistant and they’re doing a million things and you have other guys like yourself that break in on the division one level where you have the staff and you kind of get to see how yeah, a bunch of different people work and you kind of have specific duties and it’s just interesting to think about.

Everybody’s career arc and how eventually what you do is you end up at all your various stops. You end up getting these different experiences and it’s always interesting for me to just talk to people and hear what they remember or what they carry with them from each of those experiences. And I think yours talking about getting a chance to learn from people from other cultures again, like how many times do any of us get a chance to interact with a group of people from that diverse of a background and learn from them.

And I’m sure not just as a basketball coach, but just as a human being to have those experiences and be able to bond with those kids and and learn from them. And I’m sure just like they learn from you. To me, that’s really a huge piece of, when you think about it, beyond just the basketball court, beyond your career as a basketball coach, just just as a person to be able to grow, especially as a young guy like you were at that time.

Being able to do that, I’m sure has had an impact on you. Everywhere in every aspect of your life, 100%. Then eventually you get an opportunity to go back to the college level, and you go back to go back to Illinois at Lincoln College as an assistant. How does that happen? Who’s, what, what context do you have there?

What connections help you to get that job? Or how do you, how does it, how does it come across your desk?

[00:51:26] Edwind McGhee: Yeah. I’m just going to go back to what you were talking about beforehand, Before that. Sure. Difference too with being at that prep school was different, learned different type of skill, which was learning what recruiting looks like.

Right? Yeah. You know, at that prep school level you, you’re recruiting kids for, for not just one team, but we had three to four teams, right? You’re trying make sure you’re calling different parents and having interactions with parents and these things. And I think that having opportunities to coach at these lower levels helps with development skill. You have to do your hand in everything. You got in academics, you got your hand in travel, you got your hand in recruiting, you got your hand in Xs and Os. You got your hand in teaching whatever.

It’s right now you can take these, transfer to your next job, right? Need or you not. Right. But skill, skillset, and I think that’s one thing that’s overlooked, especially coaching at the lower level.

Your question is, I had a guy I was working with down in Victory Rock who was connected to the current assistant at Lincoln at that time. And he was and called, was working at like, Hey are you interested in this? I’m get out this, this, this, and this. And guy was working with like, Hey, no, I’m actually not.

I’ve got something in the works.  I was trying to get back into the college level. And at this time I was very unfamiliar with what the NAIA was to be honest. You know, I, I knew division one, division division three, juco you know, prep school obviously, but NAIA was you foreign to me at the time.

And knew that they were transitioning from junior college to, was going to be a four year institution at that point. And I was like, yeah,

college. So he called and he had the initial interview, and he went through references and he called you, he called boss, he called

work ethic was and those things. And you know, this was, this all happened like June.

And then in July when finished Florida, I wanted back to the college level and get to that have that opportunity to coach college basketball. So I jumped on it, right? Like any smaller college level pay isn’t crazy or anything like that. So you’re very transparent about goals and not just individually, but as a team. And we had some pretty good players at Lincoln College too. So that always helps. And we were pretty successful at that. So it all worked out and like I said, like I think this is again, faith-based speaking on my behalf

Locations in different situations at certain times. I was Lincoln College my first year as assistant

year postgrad, and he went to a division two school and he at the division two school, this just didn’t work out. Had to, he, he Coach McGee, I can’t, I just want to go somewhere and play this, this, and this, man, listen, you can come here. I’m talk to coach and you know, I’ll let him know what your situation is, but we’re going to get you here.

And, and that time he was, it, it all happened in like a week. He came down, he visited, got him registered and we were about, and him, he ended year led in scoring that year and was, ended up an honorable, mentioned all-American at the level. And that part of being at the right place at the right time really resonated me.

Cause if I wasn’t there or if I, if he couldn’t call and didn’t have a, what would’ve happened to, right? He probably would’ve never been in school. He probably just dropped out or whatever. I don’t know. But I know that my assignment was to be at Lincoln, and not necessarily just for him, but just to be around those individuals and around those student athletes that I was assigned to, and God knew I needed to be around. So that was huge for me. And I was you know, always think about whether it’s at the highest level possible or you know, at whatever level that I’m coaching basketball in the right assignment, right? Not necessarily chasing that opportunity, but am in the right spot where I was supposed to be impacting a certain group of people.

[00:57:59] Mike Klinzing: That’s a powerful statement. I mean, it really is, when you think about putting yourself into those positions where you can have that kind of impact and looking at it and asking yourself and knowing, Hey, I’m in, I’m in the right spot and I have the right feel. And as again, as you said, when, when your faith leads you to places.

And then you have things that happen to you while you’re there that make it clear that you’re in the right spot. And it sounds like that’s what it was for you at Lincoln while you were there. You spent three years as an assistant and then eventually you get an opportunity to take over as the head coach for a season.

But talk a little bit about what you learned as an assistant that helped you when you became a head coach.

[00:58:39] Edwind McGhee: I think the one thing that I learned was first of all, I truly appreciate my boss Pat, for having to trust in me to delegate, right? And he felt comfortable with enough to let me, he just gave me things and gave me paths to do.

And I would knock him out and knock him out. And that obviously gain more trust. But him giving me that opportunity to do more and continue to do more year in and year. Ultimately prepared me for having opportunity to be a head coach. Cause if I’m able to know what the budget is and how to work the budget and understand that you know, we have to have these conversations with our vice president about travel and whatever, it’s these conversations that you have or these, how we go about certain things and how we handle academics and how we handle this and how we do this.

And having him having him delegate those things to me. Right. Ultimately, again, those transferable skills gave me a wider skill to understand and to be coherent, what’s going on and how things are, should be handled and talk he gave, he gave me scheduling, right? This is the first time I really had to do college scheduling and what college scheduling looks like.

What can we play? Can we do a back to back.

Certain tasks that ultimately would prepare me for if there was opportunity to a head coach that it would happen. So that was process.

Appreciate him having trust in me doing those things. Cause like I said before, it just, it allowed my skillset to be widened, understand what it really looks.

[01:00:56] Mike Klinzing: Now you get a chance to be the head coach. What’s that transition like? What was different, what was unexpected? Just gimme an idea of sort of what it was like for you to take over that head coaching position and Yeah.

What you learned in that first season.

[01:01:13] Edwind McGhee: I was joking, say, I’m like, man, I was so bad.  I was so bad. Like, dude, you don’t know what you’re doing. So first of all, when everybody says it’s different, it’s night and day and the reason is you take everything personally, right?

Like, dang, you just lost two in a row, that was me, right? It doesn’t matter what happened, or something like that was me. We lost two in a row cause I’m not the best that I could be or dang, this kid has. Twos and one C and he’s on the borderline. That’s on me. We not doing enough, we’re not doing this.

We’re not. So everything at Lincoln became  more personal and I think of biggest transitions I had to was cause as an assistant I was more so the liaison between the players and our head coach. Right? So guys come to and like coach man, like this, this going on, but you know, need and might don’t,

I’ll do it and things of that matter you conversations that they want to have. But it’s where I’m guy needs.

It’s different when you have kids that you coach as an assistant and now you transition being the head coach. Cause there’s a different expectation level that I have now. Not necessarily different,

little different than it was when I was assistant, if that makes sense. Cause of what that title holds. And, and I had these conversations with those guys. That was the first I opportunity coach.

If I am the same coach, I’m still same coach. I have not changed just the position that I’m, but the position that I’m in, that I’m in has changed, right? Like I’m still same dude. I’ll joke, I’ll play with around with you and you know, I’ll do all those things, but my expectation level and the way that I’m going to carry out those expectations are going to be a lot different.

And if you can with me on this, right, we’re going to be fine. Right? But if there’s a don’t talk about alternative is so with, with those guys, especially the returners who were coming back at time. And but like I said, man, it’s, it’s so much different when it to, and being vocalize, articulate when you were an assistant, right? How to reach certain guys and what certain guys respond to is also different too. So for me, man, I look back at it and I started off, we started off 0-6 to start the year and I was literally like in the slums, like , man, I have no idea what I’m doing.

It’s harder than it looks, huh? Oh man, just don’t understand. Can’t win. Win a game and shoot. We were, I think we started off, we had two games and four games in that. And I’m like, what you doing with scheduling? Like what? Who made this schedule? I’m at myself in ridiculous. So yeah, it’s, it’s a learning experience and was fortunate and blessed enough to have people I can lean on.  These conversations, sent me some text messages and he was just like, listening those guys, right? Like, you’re obviously

right. And I’m just like, man and, and like just having people in your corner that understand and have the heart right to reach out and have heart to share their experiences, vulnerable. That’s what should, should about those shared experiences. Other up. Obviously if we’re competing, we’re competing.

But at the end of the day, man, it’s, it’s about developing those relationships and being there for especially you’ve coaches are. You know, so I was blessed to have people in my corner that, that encouraged me and lifted me up during that time and lifted up during that time.

So, but no. Mike, it’s not an easy transition.

[01:06:43] Mike Klinzing: Let’s talk about the transition going the other way. So now, yeah, you go to North Park. Tell me about the, about the why behind that and what made North Park an attractive situation for you.

[01:06:53] Edwind McGhee: So this is another crazy story. So at the first final Four. So we’re like, yeah, we’re going to do it. So we were super excited. We we’re, we’re driving to the airport and I get a message, Hey, did you see that email? An all employee meeting followed by faculty meeting all, I was like, no, I didn’t.

So we get to the airport, I’m in a terminal with my wife and I jump on this. Microsoft and the president of the college jumped and he’s off with like borrowing any unforeseen circumstances. Lincoln College would be shut down at the end of semester, and my eyes got super big, my jaw dropped. My wife is she’s listening on, like she’s got in and she’s listening and she looks at me and I’m, babe. I don’t know What does that mean? I’m  gracious, like, I just lost my job, right? And at that moment, the first thing that I could think about was my kids. And I was like, man, I’m not there. Like, I can’t even talk to what’s going on that is hurting, it’s hurting me. So I’m on a flight for like three to four hours. I text our group chat.

I’m like, Hey fellas, as soon as I land. We’re on Microsoft Teams Zoom meeting, we’re going to try this conversation about what’s going on and how regardless of what, what the situation is. At this point I got a few people down here I can connect with. Try what’s.

Coming back here. I started investigating jobs and trying to see what’s open and, and you know, at this point, and again, I think God just works in these mysterious ways that are unfathomable at times and didn’t know that my wife and I were doing distance for that year.

Those years that I was at Lincoln, we weren’t in the same household. We just married about year and had a honeymoon. I’m Lincoln Illinois and she’s in Chicago. Two hours you, so I’m living in Chicago. I’ll.

I was just like,

I chatted out Boomer Roberts already. So North Park was open and at that time boomers coach now, he called him, he’s like, Hey, you need to take Ed Mcghee as your assistant. Like, I don’t, I don’t care what’s going on. Like, I don’t you need this dude on your, and. When he said that, Sean called me and I was literally on way to Chicago. And as I’m on way to Chicago, Sean and I have like, minute to, and we, right away you we’re about, we’re you, how we approach the game what we like and what we don’t like, and  I’m like, oh yeah, can Guy was in and you know, thank God for, for Coach Smith. He held out moving forward with anybody else. And I told him like, Hey coach, like I’m in the mix right.

You know, I’m over there with, you’re, we’re this, so it was you at this point. It’s around March or April, April-ish, May You’re figuring out what’s going on and you know, once those other jobs actually fell through, I was just like, you know what’s roll and kind of happened way you, I’m blessed to say I’m a 20 minute drive home now instead of, and Right. So it all worked out. It should have worked out. Knows that if Lincoln didn’t close down, I’ll probably still be at Lincoln.

Right. And you know, still being the head coach, but being head coach back a ultimately has made a better assistant I say that cause there are certain things and aspects that, especially helping out coach, who’s coach a new head coach. Right? I was literally him a year ago. Right? Yeah.

Absolutely. Wish I had, you wish somebody assistant when I was. But you know, there’s always way that you can, or there’s, there’s other situations where there’s some people that you want to lean on that have been in this situation before, right? That knows what this looks like, how this can impact and what you can say.

And what can do. So ultimately made better assistant, and again, kind back to those. It’s being humble and Right. I’m the head back to being the guy who’s the right, you’re, but I’m team head opportunity. You know, we do it with someone who’s we’re pretty similar in age and kind of similar paths and competitive spirit and those things. It’s a great combination.

[01:14:52] Mike Klinzing: Plus you can check off another level of college basketball.

[01:14:55] Edwind McGhee: Man, I can do that. That is for sure. Cause I’ve been all over the place. But yeah, for sure.

[01:15:01] Mike Klinzing: What do you like about the division three level so far?

[01:15:04] Edwind McGhee: Man, it’s a great and competitive level basketball.  I’m biased but I think we’re of top division threes in the country as far as conference and it’s battle man.

It’s fun to compete in the student athletes commitment is so much different,

D3 Itself is great cause of the mixture of different styles that you get. And there are dudes who, there’s transfers who play at division. They’re S3 level and then there’s some freshmen that come out of who are all American. Like, it’s crazy. It’s think hey is different. At the end of the day, man, it’s a great level basketball and I encourage don’t like Coach McGee.

Don’t be like me, man. Entertain  campuses that we’ve been on so far. We’ve been on the road quite a bit, but the campuses that we’ve been on are, are gorgeous. The facilities are great. Like it’s. You know, if you didn’t, if you didn’t know about the level or haven’t been in level, you wouldn’t, you wouldn’t know. So just blessed to, to have an opportunity to branch out and discover a different level of basketball.

[01:16:55] Mike Klinzing: Yeah. It’s really interesting when you start thinking about what the division three level of basketball is all about. We’ve really tried on the podcast to sort of advocate for players, coaches, whoever, just making sure that whatever you do, whatever decisions you make, that you find the right fit regardless of the level.

And I think there’s a lot of misinformation about there. Just people that think that it’s division one or bust. Yeah. And I think about like, your story resonated with me cuz when I was a high school player I was kind of the same way. I’m like, I want to go play and play division one And Okay.

I was fortunate enough to be able to do that. But I look back now and part of me wonders hey, I just, I got lucky. I ended up in the right place for me and I had a coach that liked me and I had a really good career. But things probably, things probably could have gone differently for me if I’d have gone somewhere else.

And it’s just, it, it’s amazing the number of people that a, make a mistake coming out of school and go somewhere that’s not a good fit because it’s. A level that they perceive that they should be at. And then you have guys that look around and find the school that’s the right fit academically and athletically and boom they go and they they’re, they’re in the right spot and they have a great career and they get to play and they improve, they get better, and they get a great, great education.

And I think Division three basketball, there’s just a lot of misconceptions about it out there amongst players. And I think parents and people just don’t know how good that level of basketball is and how good you have to be able to be able to play it. And I’m sure that one of the things that I always think about when I think about somebody who’s kind of been on your career path, when you think about the recruiting side of it, and obviously when you were at the, yeah, you weren’t involved completely in the recruiting, but just being able to, Get yourself adjusted to, Hey, what are the types of players that we’re looking for?

What’s the correct, what’s the level that we need to be able to get guys to come here? And obviously if you’re going to be successful at the division three level, you have to be recruiting some guys who are probably borderline scholarship players, either at the division two Correct. Or ai or even division one level.

So what’s that adjustment been like as you’ve kind of gotten out on the road and you’re starting to look at guys that are 2020 threes for next year?

[01:19:00] Edwind McGhee: So that’s a great question and that’s a great insight on that. Cause I think you, every level right? Want to recruit above level, you’re so division three level, probably want to get some division two division you division 1, then you’re the mix.  Coach got the job in April. He hired me in May. And.

We had eight transfers to start. So we took the transfer this year and right now it’s working pretty well us moment. So you know, it’s different, right? The differences is a little bit too that obviously we can’t offer athletic scholarships, so of the main questions that we always talk recruits, It’s a little bit different, especially when recruiting freshmen, those, it’s that aspect. Understand, have the creativity right to, to make sure that these kids can get in and make sure that these kids can afford it. Right? Like that is, that’s crucial.

Scholarships, right.

Piece it, piece it there. So it’s, it’s the creativity part. What with scholarship theof, when who are have to be, have to be dedicated to the classroom in a certain capacity, right? Cause if they don’t, then you know the amount that they’re receiving from the school when it comes to that, right? Cause we can’t offer you scholarship money, but what offer you at the end of the day, that’s what kids want, right?

[01:22:48] Mike Klinzing: All right, Edmond, we are coming up towards an hour and a half. I want to ask you one final two part question. So part one is when you look ahead over the next year or two, what do you see as being your biggest challenge? And then the second part of the question is, when you think about what you get to do every day, waking up and going in and coaching at North Park, what brings you the most joy?

So your biggest challenge and then your biggest joy.

[01:23:10] Edwind McGhee: That’s a great question. I think the biggest challenge that I, when Home life and coaching life, right. I’m, I’m year and wife, so for me, I want to continue to be the best, like husband and father eventually that I’m going to be, but also the best coach can be making sure that those that I’m from something away from something. So I think that’s the biggest challenge for me forward. And then the biggest joy man, I thinks just being able to come home every day after a game. Those are some things that people take for granted, right? Like I was doing distance last year and you wife while and I got extended family with the players that I have and the staff that I have. So that’s the biggest joy that I have right now. It just excites. I don’t necessarily worry about being able to coach the game that I love. I mean, there’s nothing like it. That’s well said.

[01:25:41] Mike Klinzing: Before we wrap up, Edwin, I want to give you a chance to share how people can reach out to you, connect with you, whether you want to share email or social media, whatever you feel comfortable with, and then you do that.

I’ll jump back in and wrap things up.

[01:25:54] Edwind McGhee: Want to follow me? @EdwinMcGhee.

Recruiting anything. So questions anybody wants to ask or anybody wants to get in touch with me. Feel free. Feel free.

[01:26:20] Mike Klinzing: Edwin, I can’t thank you enough for taking the time out of your schedule tonight to jump on and join us? Really appreciate it. It’s been a lot of fun getting to know a little bit more about you and your basketball journey, and to everyone out there, thanks for listening and we will catch you on our next episode. Thanks.