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If sitting on the sidelines for a year has affected Tywain McKee’s game, it’s not showing.
Through eight match-ups this season, the 6-foot-2 sophomore guard is leading the Maryland-based Coppin State University men’s basketball team with 12.3 points, and is tied for 12th in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
In his last three games against nationally ranked UCLA, Oklahoma and Illinois, respectively, McKee, of 13th and Bainbridge streets, has averaged 17.7 points per game while shooting 51 percent from the floor. His stellar performance has earned back-to-back MEAC Rookie of the Week honors this month.
"I want some Player of the Week awards," the 19-year-old said during a phone interview. "I am not a rookie."
Technically, he is. McKee, a 2004 Bartram High grad, initially planned to play college ball at Temple. When he didn’t academically qualify, the athlete found an alternative path at Coppin State.
When he didn’t immediately reach the academic requirements needed to play, McKee was forced to sit out freshman year. He couldn’t even practice with his teammates. Instead, he played pick-up games every night with other dorm residents. The games lasted about two hours and McKee would spend another two to three hours a night practicing jump shots on his own.
"I would stay in the gym until the janitor kicked me out," he said. "My coach would tell me to go to my room and get some sleep."
The athlete, who is a criminal justice major, did get plenty of sleep and improved his grades, as well.
NO MATTER HOW many hours he spent in the gym, McKee could only watch the action from the bench. He couldn’t come into games to make the winning shot or help his team advance to the conference championship. He was watching from the sidelines in March as Hampton eliminated Coppin State in the conference semifinals.
"I saw my team losing and I couldn’t help them," McKee said.
It was hard to swallow. After all, he was fresh off a stellar Philadelphia Public League career, which included taking home the Review’s 2004 Male Athlete of the Year Award, as well as First Team All-Public and Third Team All-City honors. Senior year, McKee, who also played three seasons at Furness, helped Bartram advance to the Public League semifinals, where it lost 70-67 to Simon Gratz. He was ranked among the league leaders in scoring, averaging 18.6 points per game.
The athlete also has dedicated endless summer afternoons firing off jump shot after jump shot at Segar Playground, 10th and Lombard streets. That hard work is paying big dividends on the college courts.
"My coach, Marshall Taylor Sr., who is like a father to me, said to play the game like I am at the playground," McKee said.
In a Dec. 10 loss to Oklahoma, who was ranked No. 8 at the time, McKee helped his team rally back from a 25-point, first-half deficit by hitting 7-of-11 shots from the floor for 19 points. Coppin State came within eight points of tying up the game, but lost 57-47. McKee tallied five rebounds, two assists and two steals.
The athlete said he isn’t attempting as many three-point shots in college games. In eight match-ups, McKee has attempted just 19 three-pointers, making six.
"I can shoot the three, but I just feel more comfortable going inside for the mid-range shot and scoring the old-fashioned way," he said.
His teammates and coaches will take points in all forms, from 15-foot jumpers to foul shots. After all, the focus is on helping the Coppin State Eagles claim the lone Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference NCAA Tournament bid. The squad entered the week 0-8 overall, but its first league game doesn’t come until Jan. 4 at Delaware State.
"We should get there this year," McKee said of the tournament. "We’re playing good against these [nationally ranked] teams."
With McKee back in his role as leading scorer, the Eagles have a chance to fly.
