Memory Lane: Darrin another star from the McLee family tree
The McLee family is a storied name in Fayette County athletics. Darrin McLee is another member of the clan who made his mark on the hardwood for the Uniontown Red Raiders.
无毛视频淚 started playing sports at an early age,无毛视频� McLee reported. 无毛视频淚 went to Lafayette Junior High School and I无毛视频檓 from the East End area so I grew up on the local playgrounds. That无毛视频檚 where most of us pretty much started our athletic career.
无毛视频淚 actually played football as well and I was pretty good at football up until junior high and they didn无毛视频檛 want me to play anymore. It was the coaches and my family that wanted me to stop playing football because I was pretty good at basketball. I played up until 10th grade and then I focused on basketball.无毛视频�
McLee was well aware of his family lineage in athletics.
无毛视频淢y mother is Lavata McLee and she had six boys including Brian, Stuart, Marty, Chris, and Scott,无毛视频� he said. 无毛视频淢y first and second cousins are Reggie and Kevin and all the great athletes from that part of the family, we are all under the same umbrella. Of course I无毛视频檓 related to the great Ernie Davis, I have his picture on my locker at work. It无毛视频檚 a big family and we无毛视频檝e got a lot of love for one another. Plus we were raised pretty tough with my mother, she was a mother and a father. She focused on respect and dignity.无毛视频�
McLee was part of a great junior high program at Lafayette.
无毛视频淢y coach was Mr. (Rich) Bierbower and we went undefeated,无毛视频� McLee recalled. 无毛视频淲e didn无毛视频檛 lose a game and I ended up getting the Robert Fee Award. Lafayette was a big part of my life and I actually played baseball as well when I was younger.无毛视频�
In high school the 5-foot-11, 180-pound McLee was part of Uniontown basketball squad that went 15-1 in Section 3 and finished 20-4 in 1981-82, losiing to Norwin in the WPIAL playoffs 63-57. McLee was the sixth man on that team and scored 154 points.
In 1982-83 the Red Raiders were 18-4 in the regular season and finished 20-6. In the WPIAL tournament they downed Baldwin 59-46 and lost to McKeesport 67-61. In the PIAA tournament they beat Warren in double overtime 82-76. McLee poured in a career high 36 points in that game. Farrell knocked the Raiders out in the next round. McLee tallied 393 points on the season.
During McLee无毛视频檚 senior campaign in 1983-84 he had a monster season scoring 513 points. Uniontown was 19-5 during the regular season. They had a run in the WPIAL playoffs knocking off Penn-Trafford 52-26 and Hempfield 61-52 before losing in the semifinals to Bethel Park 70-68. In the PIAA playoffs they were beaten by Peabody 66-58.
无毛视频淲e played a three-man set and they called us the jet set,无毛视频� McLee stated. 无毛视频淭hat was me and Darwin Ramsey and Mike Belt. The three of us would rotate that front and we gave 无毛视频檈m hell up front because we played that full court press.
无毛视频淚 had a great relationship with coach Lash Nesser and assistant coach Willie Bryant. Lash took care of me and he relied on me to take control. I have great memories and it was a great time and we were a very close knit group.无毛视频�
McLee remembers the rivalry with Laurel Highlands.
无毛视频淚t was always intense and I played against Rueben Davis,无毛视频� McLee offered. 无毛视频淭hat game was special and we all knew each other.无毛视频�
McLee finished with a career total of 1,060 points and that was before the three-point line. He was All-Section as a junior and senior and named to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette无毛视频檚 Terrific 20 as a senior.
When McLee graduated from Uniontown he briefly played basketball at California University of Pennsylvania.
无毛视频淚 went to California, but I didn无毛视频檛 have the mentality of going to school,无毛视频� McLee explained. 无毛视频淐harlie Henderson helped recruit me. I stayed for about a month and I wasn无毛视频檛 prepared for it. My brothers were already in the military. The military was pushed pretty hard in the 80s. I joined the Navy and served four years. I was on the battleship New Jersey and went to Great Lakes, IL training school and I went to Long Beach and I became a boiler technician and went to the USS New Jersey. I played for their basketball team and we were known as one of the best teams in the 11th Fleet.
无毛视频淚 left the Navy in 1989 and worked for Coca-Cola and then met my wife, her father was a top executive with Xerox and I went to work for Xerox for 10 years. Then I went back to school and I wanted to be an H-Back engineer and I went to UCLA and got my construction engineering degree and I went back and got my Masters. I work for a company called CBRE and I have been there 12 years.无毛视频�
Now,58, McLee resides in Los Angeles with his wife of 30 years Tamika. They have no children.
Looking back McLee is pleased with what he has accomplished.
无毛视频淚 made the most of my opportunities,无毛视频� McLee stated. 无毛视频淚 had to, we are old school. You have to stand on your own . My mother taught us to have pride and dignity, but be a hard worker.无毛视频�
George Von Benko无毛视频檚 无毛视频淢emory Lane无毛视频� column appears in the Sunday editions of the 无毛视频-Standard. He also hosts a sports talk show on WMBS-AM radio from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.