Mike McKee enters his eighth season as the University of Denver men's basketball associate head coach in 2014-15. The Pioneers went 118-99 (.544), including a 84-19 (.816) mark at Magness Arena, in McKee's first seven seasons.
Denver shared the 2012-13 Western Athletic Conference regular season title in DU's only year in the league, compiling a record of 22-10 overall and 16-2 in the WAC. The Pioneers finished the season ranked 63rd in the RPI, 44th in the Pomeroy Ranking, 55th on ESPN's Basketball Power Index and 63th in the Sagarin Rating, all of which were the highest in Denver's history. DU ranked fifth in the NCAA in assist/turnover ratio (1.45), sixth in scoring defense (55.9), eighth in turnover margin (4.6), 10th in both field-goal percentage (48.0) and assists per game (16.1), 15th in steals per game (9.0), 25th in turnovers per game (11.2) and 30th in three-pointers per game (7.9).
In 2011-12, McKee helped lead the Pioneers to a team-record 22 NCAA Division I victories, including signature victories against Southern Mississippi and Saint Mary's, which both ended the season among the Top 30 in the RPI and played in the NCAA Tournament. DU also was one of only two teams in the country, along with Missouri, to be in the top 20 in the nation in the following offensive categories: field goal percentage (eighth at 48.8 percent), effective field goal percentage (third at 57.3 percent), three-point field goal percentage (eighth at 39.8 percent), free throw percentage (14th at 76.2 percent) and assists (16th at 15.6 per game).
The Pioneers overcame key injuries to Rob Lewis and Andrew Hooper -- Lewis missed the entire season, and Hooper could not play the final 10 games -- to go 13-17 in 2010-11 against DU's most challenging schedule since returning to NCAA Division I in 1999. After a 2-9 start, DU rallied under Scott and his coaching staff, winning eight-straight games and claiming the Sun Belt Conference lead, which the team held for the next eight weeks.
McKee helped the Pioneers improve their record to 19-13 overall, 10-8 in the Sun Belt Conference and advance to the SBC Tournament semifinals in 2009-10. DU improved its overall win total, conference win total and home win total in each of his first three years.
McKee spent the previous two seasons as associate head coach at Richmond.
The Delran, N.J., native spent four seasons on the staff at Air Force, the first three of which were under current DU head coach Joe Scott. He was an assistant coach for the first three years at the Academy and then was promoted to associate head coach in 2004-05.
McKee helped lead Air Force to an 18-12 record in 2004-05, including a 9-5 mark in the Mountain West Conference. The Falcons led the nation in scoring defense his last three years at Air Force and finished second in the country in fewest turnovers per game in 2004-05. As an assistant coach, McKee helped lead Air Force to a 22-7 record in 2003-04 as the Falcons made their first NCAA Tournament berth in 42 years and set a school record for wins.
Before coaching at Air Force, McKee served as an assistant coach at Lafayette College from 1997-2001. The Leopards earned back-to-back NCAA Tournament berths in 1999 and 2000 and won three Patriot League titles during his tenure.
McKee was a four-year letterwinner at Lehigh and a team captain during his senior season. He earned the team's outstanding player and Coaches Award in 1994 while being named the top newcomer in 1991 and the most improved player in 1992. McKee still holds the program's single-game and single-season records for assists.
The former point guard and his wife, TaRhonda, live in Denver with their son, Mickey, and daughters, Claire and Ruby.
