Ole Bones

Wake Forest basketball coach, Horace “Bones” McKinney, 1964. Coach McKinney is wearing a seat belt to help him keep seated during the basketball games. Photo from Forsyth County Public Library Collection

       If there has ever been a more colorful character to come from Goose Creek Island, it was Horace “Bones” McKinney.  I recently came across his autobiography in a local bookstore and immediately purchased it.  For those of you who do not know who “Bones” McKinney is, he was the head coach of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons basketball team from 1958 – 1965 and who led them to their first ACC title.  He was born and raised in Lowland and was never ashamed to let people know he was from the “boon docks’ of Lowland.  His basketball career started in Durham NC, then to NC State and UNC.  He played a short time with the professional basketball team the Washington Capitols.  Eventually he made his way back to the Old North State and became head coach at Wake Forest.  Bones was known for his showmanship and sideline antics.  As he said in his book, “he was a like a popcorn machine”; unable to sit still on the sidelines.  As a joke at one game, he found that someone had installed a seatbelt on his courtside seat.  Bone’s McKinney is a true blue Goose Creek Islander in every sense.  If you happen to come across his book, you will appreciate the chapter that is dedicated to his hometown of Lowland NC.