Marquette ‘13
Hometown: Portland, ME
Jim McKew has taken what might be considered a non-traditional path to coaching college baseball players: he did not play the game in college, and in fact spent his time focused on basketball as a student manager. But his love for the national pastime has always been there , and been there above all other sports.
“Baseball has always been my love,” he says. “The goal in mind was that baseball would always be down the line.”
McKew is currently in his second year as director of baseball operations at George Washington University. As a student at Marquette, he served as the head basketball manager for the men’s basketball program under then-head coach Buzz Williams, now at Virginia Tech. During his time at Marquette, McKew played an integral role behind the scenes during the Golden Eagles’ runs to the Sweet 16 (2011, 2012) and Elite 8 (2013).
Said Williams of his former protégé, “It’s not public knowledge yet, but because I witnessed it daily for four years, Coach McKew will be a star in the baseball world sooner rather than later. He genuinely cares for people, knows how to build trustful relationships, and keeps the priorities of teaching in the right order.”
The Portland, Maine native has served as an assistant coach for the Cheverus High School baseball team in addition to working various baseball and basketball youth camps as a coach. He has also spent time as an instructor with The Edge Academy Baseball Training Center in Portland. He was an assistant coach for the 2012 Maine State Champion American Legion team that finished as the Northeast Regional runner-up.
The Tom Sox thank CBS 19 and the Charlottesville Newsplex for their contributions to this article.
