Championship pedigree arrives with McGhee
Edwind McGhee stepped onto the campus of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville this July, swapping the familiar halls of North Park University for a new challenge in the Midwest’s competitive basketball landscape.
Having guided the Vikings to a historic stretch that included a CCIW Tournament Championship, an NCAA Division III Sweet Sixteen run and a 24‑win season — the program’s best in nearly four decades — McGhee brings a proven winning pedigree to the Cougars’ staff.
His tenure at North Park was marked by consecutive top‑four finishes in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin and the team’s first back‑to‑back appearances in the conference tournament since the 2016‑17 season.
Before his head‑coaching role, McGhee served as an assistant at Lincoln College, where he also played for the NAIA program, and earlier still he honed his skills as both a player and mentor at DePaul University, earning four Big East All‑Academic honors.
A 2014 graduate with a bachelor’s degree and a 2016 master’s from DePaul, McGhee logged 69 career games for the Blue Demons before transitioning to coaching, a path that began with a stint as an assistant at his alma mater.
The move to SIUE is being greeted as a strategic boost for a program seeking to elevate its national profile, with the athletic director expressing confidence that McGhee’s blend of playing experience, academic rigor and championship experience will translate into immediate on‑court impact.