By Patrick Wolfinbarger
As a fan, a student and a department employee, Kevin McKinney demonstrates 50 years
of pride and passion for University of Wyoming Intercollegiate Athletics. That lifetime
commitment was recently recognized when the UW Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame inducted McKinney as a member of its 2013 fall class.
McKinney, UW senior associate athletics director for external operations and longtime sports commentator for Cowboy football and basketball team radio broadcasts, has followed UW athletics through the terms of every athletic director starting with the legendary Glenn “Red” Jacoby. He is serving under his 12th UW president. UWyo Magazine sat down with McKinney for his unprecedented perspective.
When did you first start attending UW athletic events?
About 1957, I was 8 years old and my dad worked with broadcaster Larry Birleffi. In that day and time, we won most of our home games, so obviously, they were heroes and I got infatuated by Cowboy football first. Then Dad brought me to a basketball game.
How did you start working for UW athletics?
I was going to come to UW and study broadcast journalism in 1967. Bill Young (former UW sports information director) indicated his office hired three student assistants, and he had an opening. I was thrilled to be involved in it.
I remember moving into Crane Hall, and my dad dropped me over at the Fieldhouse at Bill’s office. He just said, “Now remember, you will be the first McKinney to graduate from college.”
Thanks to my time in that office during school, I was certainly able to determine that sports information was the way I wanted to go. I started with Bill on May 1, 1972.
What are some of the more significant changes you’ve seen in intercollegiate athletics?
Shortly after I started was the advent of women’s athletics. The university, like other institutions, added a certain number of women’s sports. I was very pleased to be on the ground floor of that. That was an awesome thing. I also saw the Cowboy Joe Club evolve. There were no fundraising arms or entities in intercollegiate athletics. You look back at things and there were a lot pioneering efforts going on. You didn’t know that at the time, but there were.
What event stands out to you among the many you’ve witnessed?
In terms of on the playing field, probably the most fun were the two basketball games against Utah and BYU in the Fieldhouse (in 1982). Wyoming basketball had struggled big time for a long time. I will never forget the atmosphere in the Fieldhouse because I’d seen games there since the 1950s, when the Cowboys would draw 2,000 to 3,000 fans. That weekend probably jetted Wyoming basketball into a different stratum. We didn’t consistently win championships, but we actually started thinking we could. It was one of the most important weekends to modern Wyoming basketball.
Who are some of the athletes that stand out in your career?
You mean among the hundreds? I would say Fennis Dembo, Flynn Robinson, Marcus Harris, Shauna Smith and Hanna Zavecz. That’s an unfair question because there were so many. Also, Marcus Bailey, Reginald Slater, Randy Welniak and currently Brett Smith.
I realized early on how fantastic these kids are. It’s really amazing how they balance their athletic careers with their education.
How important are athletics to academics and academics to athletics?
I think the athletics department can be a very positive aspect of the school. We always feel good when we can bring the school national attention in a positive way.
I just wrote a story about a cross-country student who wants to work to improve artificial limbs. What a terrific young man. There are so many student-athletes like him around this department. These young people are just as dedicated to being students as they are athletes.
It makes you feel terrific about the mission and what athletics is all about. We never win enough for everyone. That's a given in athletics. But I feel good about the people in our department. I especially feel good about who these student-athletes are and who they will become.