Spartanburg, SC
Inducted December 2015
DICK MCKEE WAS AN ACCOMPLISHED PLAYER, COLLEGE COACH, TOURNAMENT ADMINISTRATOR AND TEACHING PROFESSIONAL WHO SERVED AS A SERGEANT IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY DURING WORLD WAR II.
HE GREW UP PLAYING ON THE PUBLIC COURTS OF FLAMINGO PARK IN MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA. HIS ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS A PLAYER INCLUDE:
- WON SEVERAL FLORIDA HIGH SCHOOL STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
- WON NUMEROUS FLORIDA AND SOUTHERN SECTION TOURNAMENT FITLES
- WON THE 1940 NATIONAL PUBLIC PARKS SINGLES CROWN AND THE EASTERN STATES CLAY COURT CHAMPIONSHIPS
- PLAYED FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI UNDER COACH GARDNAR MULLOY WHERE HE WAS RANKED 7TH AMONG THE NATION’S COLLEGE PLAYERS AND THE TEAM WON THE 1941 NATIONAL TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
- UPON THE CONCLUSION OF HOSTILITIES IN WORLD WAR II HE WAS SELECTED TO PLAY IN THE 1945 EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATION TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS AT WIMBLEDON, THE FIRST POST WAR TOURNAMENT AT THE ALL-ENGLAND CLUB WHERE HE WAS A FINALIST IN SINGLES AND WON THE DOUBLES TITLE PLAYING BEFORE MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL FAMILY, SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL AND GENERAL DWIGHT EISENHOWER
- BECAME ONE OF THE TOP RANKED SENIOR PLAYERS IN THE COUNTRY, COMPETING AGAINST PLAYERS LIKE PANCHO SEGURA, DON BUDGE AND JACK KRAMER
- KNOWN AS A PLAYER AND COACH WHO LOVED THE GAME AND PUT SPORTSMANSHIP BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE
HIS 15-YEAR COLLEGE COACHING CAREER INCLUDED:
- HEAD COACH AT DAVIDSON FROM 1952 TO 1958 WHERE HE LED THE 1954 TEAM TO THE SCHOOL’S FIRST SOUTHERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP, WHICH THEY REPEATED THE FOLLOWING YEAR
- HEAD COACH AT FURMAN UNIVERSITY FROM 1959 TO 1963 WHERE HIS TEAM WON A SOUTHERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP
- SERVED AS SPORTS INFORMATION DIRECTOR AT BOTH SCHOOLS
HIS PROFESSIONAL TEACHING CAREER BEGAN AT THE PRESTIGIOUS BATH CLUB IN MIAMI BEACH AND HE HAS TAUGHT AT CLUBS IN CHARLOTTE, CHAPEL HILL, RICHMOND, VIRGINIA BEACH AND LOUISVILLE. HE BECAME THE DIRECTOR OF TENNIS AT GREENVILLE COUNTRY CLUB IN 1959 AND LATER WORKED 13 YEARS AT THE COUNTRY CLUB OF SPARTANBURG WHERE HE WAS NAMED TENNIS PRO EMERITUS IN 1986 AND THE CENTER COURT BEARS HIS NAME. HE BECAME THE TENNIS PROFESSIONAL AT RED FOX COUNTRY CLUB IN TRYON, N. C. IN 1988 AND SERVED AS THE PRESIDENT OF MCKEE ENTERPRISES. DURING HIS TIME AS A TEACHING PROFESSIONAL HE SERVED AS DIRECTOR OF NUMEROUS USTA LOCAL AND STATE TOURNAMENTS, INCLUDING THE SOUTH CAROLINA OPEN.
MCKEE DIED AT AGE 80 ON AUGUST 23, 2001.
