McGee to be inducted into NIAA HOF
Submitted photo
Bill McGee, who played basketball for St. John蘑菇视频 High School under legendary head coach James 鈥淟ash鈥� Nesser, makes a call during a high school football game in Nevada. McGee currently resides in Las Vegas with his second wife, Katie. They have been married for 34 years and have four children.
Submitted photo
Uniontown native Bill McGee works a girls high school basketball game in Nevada. McGee, who started working as an official in 1973 while still in Uniontown, relocated to Las Vegas in 1976 and will be inducted into the Hall of Fame by the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association on March 14.
Bill McGee heeded the advice of Horace Greeley to 鈥淕o West, young man鈥� back in the 1970s.
The former Uniontown native will be honored with induction into the Nevada high school Hall of Fame by the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association on March 14.
McGee played basketball for the legendary James 鈥淟ash鈥� Nesser at St. John蘑菇视频 High School in the 1960s.
The Eagles posted records of 16-5 and 5-1 in the Catholic League in 1961-62, 6-13 and 2-4 in league play in 1962-63, and 17-5 and 6-0 in league play in 1963-64.
鈥淲e had a lot of fun,鈥� McGee recalled. 鈥淪t. John蘑菇视频 was a small, small school and when I was a sophomore they had a lot of seniors. Guys like Mark John, Eddie Krupko, Mike Kalman and Mike Stanchin. They had a terrific team and that team was going to play in PCIAA state championship, but the team that they beat, St. Anslem, had beaten St. Michael of Greenville and had an ineligible player. St. Michael petitioned the PCIAA and they made St. John蘑菇视频 play St. Michael and we lost, 51-49, and went on to win the state championship.
鈥淭wo years later we played St. Michael in the playoffs and they beat us, 53-50. We had quite a history with St. Michael.鈥�
McGee only got into one game as a sophomore and scored eight points. His junior season in 1962-63 in tallied 155 points and as a senior in 1963-64 he scored 242 points with a career high of 24 points in a 82-69 win over Saint Vincent Prep.
鈥淲e competed against bigger schools and were competitive,鈥� McGee said. 鈥淚 had the alpha and the omega, the 1962-63 team was probably one of the worst that coach Nesser had and the 1963-64 team was probably one of the best.鈥�
McGee looks back with great respect at his old mentor, coach Nesser.
鈥淐oach Nesser was ultracompetitive,鈥� McGee stated. 鈥淏asketball was our primary sport, we did have a baseball team, but we were not very good. For coach Nesser every game was the Rose Bowl. There was no warm-up games or look past games or breather games, he was dead serious about competing in every game we played and it was a lot of fun playing for him. I got to coach with him for five years, too.鈥�
McGee also looks back fondly at the playground culture that was a big factor in area athletics when he was growing up.
鈥淒ay and night, there was access to games,鈥� McGee offered. 鈥淐raig playground, you had to sometimes wait two hours to take on the winner of the previous game, the winners stayed on the court and the losers had to get back in line and wait. East End, Lincoln View, Boyle, Berkeley, there were games all over town and where ever you went you could find a game. High school sports were successful because of the playground system. All of the surrounding schools all had players, Redstone had players, Dunbar had players. There were a lot of players in the county.鈥�
McGee graduated from St. John蘑菇视频 in 1964 and the attended Saint Vincent College.
鈥淚 graduated from Saint Vincent in 1968,鈥� McGee said. 鈥淚 played a little bit of basketball there, not very much and not very well. I wasn鈥檛 smooth. I was slow.鈥�
McGee taught chemistry and biology at St.John蘑菇视频 and served as an assistant on coach Nesser蘑菇视频 staff for five years.
鈥淭he kids were deadly serious about learning,鈥� McGee stated. 鈥淢ost of the kids were college bound, and we had no discipline problems and no effort problems.鈥�
McGee relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada, in 1976.
McGee started officiating in 1973 while still living in Uniontown.
鈥淢y first game that I officiated, Bob Fee was working the game along with Jim Cunningham,鈥� McGee recalled. 鈥淭hey were making fun of me and telling me how nice I looked in my uniform. Cunningham asked if he could see my whistle and my flag. He said they were nice and brand new. He put them in his pocket and said go over there with the chain crew and don鈥檛 get run over.鈥�
McGee was in the medical equipment business and eventually he got into the casino business and spent 20 years working in the casino business. He started officiating football and basketball in Nevada in 1977.
He was assigned annually to work zone/region contests in both sports through 2010. He was also assigned state basketball tournament events in odd-numbered years from 1979 through 1987 and then annually from 1988 through 2010 (28 tournaments in all, more than 60 games).
McGee was a past president of the Southern Nevada Officials Association. He garnered seven state championship game assignments in football and six in basketball, and he worked a total of more than 1,500 contests over the course of his career.
鈥淚t was a lot of fun to be involved in officiating,鈥� McGee said.
McGee has also served as the timer for UNLV men蘑菇视频 basketball games since 1992.
The NIAA will induct nine into this year蘑菇视频 Hall of Fame in March and McGee is part of the 25th induction class.,
鈥淥ne of the group that was inducted two years ago was Greg Maddux,鈥� McGee said. 鈥淪o, I鈥檓 in pretty fast company.鈥�
McGee, 70, is retired and resides in Las Vegas with his second wife, Katie. They have been married 34 years and have four children.