Boulder – When the McConnell family gathered for a holiday or during the summer break, the kids played basketball, touch football, Whiffle Ball, anything. Kathy, as the third youngest, usually would be placed on the same team with Tom, the eldest, to even up the sides.
And this spring when the opportunity arose, Kathy McConnell-Miller picked Tom to be on her team. But this time it was the Colorado Buffaloes.
Sue McConnell, mother of one of western Pennsylvania’s most famous basketball families, and Tom Sr. sat behind CU’s bench during last weekend’s Coors Classic and paid particular attention to the interaction between Kathy and her brother. Just as the parents thought – the two have always had some sort of synergy going although Tom, who turns 47 next week, is almost eight years older than Kathy.
“I have to say there are certain brothers and sisters in our family where this probably wouldn’t work, they probably couldn’t work together,” Tom said recently. “Kathy and I are able to do it.”
Six of the eight McConnell siblings earned college scholarships as point guards.
Then they became coaches.
“I thought when they were done playing we wouldn’t have to travel everywhere to see their games,” Sue McConnell said.”But we still do. And we just love it.”
But back in Pennsylvania when the McConnell kids were drawing up sides, the team with Tom and Kathy would face Suzie McConnell Serio, who became an All-American at Penn State and two-time Olympian. Suzie coached the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx from 2003 until last spring after having played in the league. Kathy and Suzie teamed in the backcourt to lead Pittsburgh’s Seton-LaSalle High School to a 1984 Pennsylvania state championship. Later, Kathy played college basketball at Virginia.
“Growing up, there used to be some knock-down, drag-out battles among the kids,” Kathy recalled. “Dad put an outdoor hoop on the chimney. Anything from ‘Around the World’ to ‘H-O-R-S-E’ to 2-on-2, it was really competitive. That’s just how we are.”
McConnell-Miller immediately thought of her brother when assistant coach Mike Neighbors took a job at Arkansas in May. She had been thinking for several years about the possibility of them coaching together someday. This might be the right time, she thought.
Tom, a point guard at Davidson during his playing days, missed the college scene. He had been away from it since 1999, after a seven-year run as head men’s basketball coach St. Francis (Pa.), a Division I school. Previous stops included assistant’s gigs at Wake Forest, Marquette and Dayton.
After leaving St. Francis, Tom became Director of Youth and Campus Ministry for the Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johns- town (Pa.). The past two seasons, he coached the boys basketball team at Bishop Guilfoyle High School in Altoona while retaining his Diocese duties.
“I understand why I’m here,” Tom said. “I’ve been a head coach before. I’ve been down that road before, and I understand that Kathy has a million and one things on her plate. Hopefully I can be a steadying force.”
Apparently, Coach Tom has been that already.
“He is very energetic, but he’s also calm,” junior forward Jackie McFarland said. “He balances some of the highs and lows of the female coaches.”
The McConnells’ love affair with basketball can be traced to grade school. Although they span more than a decade in age, the siblings played for the same coach, Dan Kail.
“I didn’t have to do much,” Kail said modestly during a phone interview. “The passion these McConnell kids had for the game was rare. For all of them, it’s always been about the team. It wasn’t about them individually. It was about the team. That goes back to the passion they have.”
A tight-knit clan that continues to conduct the McConnell Family Girls Basketball Camp each summer in Pittsburgh, the siblings have been known to scribble plays on cocktail napkins and pass them around the dinner table.
“We need a lot of napkins,” McConnell-Miller said. “Basketball is in our blood.”
Staff writer Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
Family ties
A look at the McConnell siblings who became coaches:
Tom McConnell (age 47): Colorado women’s basketball assistant. Former Division I men’s head coach at St. Francis University (Pa.).
Tim McConnell (42): Head boys coach, Chartiers Valley (Pa.) High School.
Suzie McConnell Serio (40): Former head coach of WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx.
Kathy McConnell-Miller (39): Colorado women’s head basketball coach.
Michael McConnell (37): Former head boys coach, Carlynton (Pa.) High School. Camp director, McConnell Family Girls Basketball Camp in Pittsburgh.
Maureen Richards (36): Former girls assistant coach, Oakland (Pa.) Catholic High School.
Note: Two other sisters, Patty Wagner (46) and Eileen Tuite (44), did not pursue coaching careers.
TOM KENSLER
