Over Thanksgiving break the men’s basketball team took on two of their conference foes. Helping lead the charge over break for the Ichabods was sophomore forward Will McKee where during his performance Saturday, Nov. 25, he paced the Ichabods with an astounding 18 points. Let’s learn more about the life of McKee.

McKee was raised in Lenexa, Kansas. He went to St. James Academy where his focus was primarily on basketball. McKee said he is thankful to have been able to play basketball at St. James.

“My time at St. James was good. We were a good team that did some good things. We had multiple NCAA Division I athletes there while I was playing for them, so we were able to play pretty good basketball,” McKee said.

McKee, son of Jed and Sherry, has two older brothers and one younger sister. McKee believes that he has been blessed to have the family that he has, and even described his parents as two of the greatest things that have ever happened to him.

During his time at Washburn, he has been a key part to the success of the Ichabods. This season alone, he is averaging 8.6 points per game on 24.4 minutes per game. 

For McKee, his future is not in basketball, but in life. However, this does not stop him from wanting success on the court during the time he is able to wear an Ichabod uniform. McKee believes that basketball is just a part of the process.

“I want to be able to continue to play good basketball here until I graduate. After that, I want to be able to find a good job and then I would have to say that I want to settle down with a wife of my own,” McKee said.

Some of McKee’s favorite things to do are fairly similar to the average college student. With the time that McKee gets outside of school and practice, he likes to do things his way.

“I like to watch Netflix, play “Fortnite,” play basketball, obviously, and definitely sleep. I haven’t checked in a while, but I think I have around 100 wins in Fortnite, so yeah I like to be able to play Fortnite when I get the chance, and I like to play FIFA as well,” McKee said.

Head coach Brett Ballard looks to rely on McKee as a leader of the Bods this season.

“Will is a very good athlete that really shoots the ball well and plays hard all of the time. He plays with great effort and energy which his teammates feed off of. He has really been playing well in practice and it’s starting to carry over into the games. He is definitely going to be a major weapon for us as the year progresses,” Ballard said.

To McKee, the most exciting thing that he has ever done happened earlier this year at Allen Fieldhouse. 

On Nov. 1, McKee and the Ichabods traveled to Lawrence to take on KU for an exhibition match-up. Ever since McKee was young, he has been a fan of the Jayhawks, so of course he was excited when presented the opportunity to play against them. There, he was able to do something that not many people get to do; dunk at Allen Fieldhouse. 

“I grew up in Lawrence and was a KU fan. So when I got the chance to dunk, it was a great experience. Sadly, I wasn’t able to dunk on Dok [Udoka Azubuike],” McKee said.

The basketball team continues their season this Thursday against the University of Saint Mary at Lee Arena. As the season goes on, look for McKee to play a larger role for the Ichabods.