Former Gamecock, Irmo great Justin McKie enjoying new career move ... in stripes

Justin McKie is back on a basketball court, just in a different role that those in the Midlands are used to seeing him.

McKie was the 2013 S.C. Gatorade Basketball Player of the Year and helped Irmo High School to a state championship before going on to the University of South Carolina. He was a member of the Gamecocks’ 2017 Final Four team before graduating later that year.

Now, McKie is back on the court again with what he wants to build up as his new career — as a basketball official.

The 28-year-old was a referee at a few of last week’s games at the Chick-fil-A Classic held at River Bluff High School. And he’s working as much as he can at the high school and college levels.

“It has been really fun and I have met a lot of great people,” McKie said. “It is just a journey and I am really loving it. Being around the game again, hearing the coaches’ calls, listening to the players talking trash. It is fun.”

McKie was in search of a career move two years ago. After graduating at USC, he spent a year on Frank Martin’s staff with the Gamecocks men’s basketball team. He also gave modeling a try.

He then reached out to his dad, BJ McKie, a USC Hall of Famer who is an assistant coach at Wake Forest. He talked to his father about getting into coaching full-time. It was his dad who recommended he try becoming a referee.

So Justin McKie reached out to longtime official Tony Greene about getting started. He said he talked to Greene several veteran referees for advice with his new career.

“As a player, you look at officials and you are like, ‘Nah.’ But I gave it a shot,” McKie said. “I have fallen in love with this. It is an art form, it is a craft and a career. It isn’t playing, it isn’t coaching but it is a basketball career and part of the game. I want to take it as far as I can take it. ... If I can get to the very top, I’m all about it.”

McKie says he no longer has coaching aspirations. His goal is to make it as a high-level Division I basketball referee, or possibly the NBA.

McKie’s first action came at a referee camp, and he quickly made the move up to high school games in South Carolina. He said he issued his first technical foul during an AAU game but tries to be fair and talk through things with players and coaches.

McKie says he refs as many games as he can each week in addition to his regular job of supervising drivers at UPS. This week, he is working seven games that are mainly high school varsity and JV games. He also works as an official for Conference Carolinas Division II college basketball games.

There is one stipulation: He’s not allowed to referee any games involving his alma mater Irmo and his former coach Tim Whipple.

“I would love to give Coach Whipple a tech for yelling at me back in the day, but I can’t,” McKie said. “... I don’t like to give techs. I like to talk the players through, talk to the coaches a little bit. I remember what it was like to be a player and have a frustrating game. I try to refrain from giving techs unless seriously warranted.”