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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives wish to congratulate Zion Mayor Billy McKinney
4on becoming the first Northwestern men's basketball player to
5have his jersey number retired; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Mayor McKinney is considered by many to be the
7best player in Northwestern history; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Mayor McKinney scored 1,900 career points, a
9school record that stood for 35 years, and led the Wildcats in
10scoring each season of his collegiate career; his 768 made
11field goals still stand as the program's all-time record; he
12earned All-Big Ten recognition in all of his four seasons and
13garnered First Team All-Conference and All-America honors as a
14senior when he averaged 21.3 points per game; a Wildcat has not
15made 17 or more field goal attempts in a game since he posted
1637 points against Notre Dame in 1974; he was named the first
17three-time team MVP in program history from 1975-77, under
18head coach Tex Winter, who would later be the long-time
19assistant coach of the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers;
20and
 
21    WHEREAS, Mayor McKinney played eight years in the NBA
22(1978-85) with the Kansas City Kings, Utah Jazz, Denver

 

 

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1Nuggets, San Diego Clippers, and Chicago Bulls; he was
2nicknamed The Crazed Hummingbird and still holds the NBA
3rookie record for most made field goals without a miss; and
 
4    WHEREAS, Mayor McKinney served as an executive and scout
5in NBA front offices for over 30 years; while working as a
6Bulls scout, he was the only scout to watch Scottie Pippen play
7in Arkadelphia, Ark., guiding the team to trade for Pippen in
81987 and form one of the NBA's greatest dynasties with Michael
9Jordan; he was the first African-American front office
10executive in franchise history; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Mayor McKinney became the first general manager
12of the expansion Minnesota Timberwolves in 1992 and later
13worked as GM for the Detroit Pistons and the WNBA's Seattle
14Storm; as the director of scouting for the Milwaukee Bucks, he
15was instrumental in drafting Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2013;
16and
 
17    WHEREAS, Mayor McKinney has served as the mayor of his
18hometown, Zion, since 2019; his family planted roots in Zion
19in the summer of 1962, and he attended Elmwood Elementary
20School, Central Middle School, and Zion-Benton Township High
21School, where he was a 1973 Honor Roll student and graduate;
22and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Mayor McKinney is still heavily involved with the
2Northwestern men's program and is the team's radio color
3analyst; the Northwestern University Department of Athletics
4and Recreation annually presents The Billy McKinney Award to
5the male student-athlete who has exhibited exemplary
6leadership qualities; therefore, be it
 
7    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
8HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
9we congratulate Zion Mayor Billy McKinney on becoming the
10first Northwestern men's basketball player to have his jersey
11number retired; and be it further
 
12    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
13presented to Mayor McKinney as a symbol of our respect and
14esteem.