Billy McKinney Collection

Bill McKinney (William Mervin McKinney III) was born June 5, 1955, in Waukegan, Illinois. McKinney played basketball (guard) at Zion-Benton High School (1969-1973), and later at Northwestern University where he earned an education degree from the School of Education and Social Policy (1973-1977). He held the highest-scorer record at Northwestern until 2012. He played professionally in the National Basketball Association from 1978 to 1985, on the Kansas City Kings (1978-1980), Utah Jazz (1980), Denver Nuggets (1980-1983), San Diego Clippers (1983-1984), and Chicago Bulls (1985). He stayed involved in professional basketball as an executive after retiring as a player, serving as Assistant Vice President of Basketball Operations for the Chicago Bulls, Director of Player Personnel for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Vice President of Basketball Operations for the Detroit Pistons, Executive Vice President of the Seattle Supersonics and the WNBA's Seattle Storm, and Director (later Vice President) of Scouting for the Milwaukee Bucks. He also worked as a radio and television analyst. Since April 2019, McKinney has served as the 18th Mayor of Zion, Illinois (where he had previously served a year as school board member). It was announced in February 2023 that Northwestern would retire McKinney's Number 30 jersey in the 2023-2024 school year (McKinney is the first NU student-athlete to receive the honor).