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September 12, 2009 E-MAIL PRINT

Duke longstick McKee opens eyes

by Kevin Henkin/

Having successfully recruited him to Duke four years ago, Mike Pressler already had a high level of appreciation for Parker McKee’s game. Even Pressler, however, was surprised at just how far McKee had developed as a player during those four years. Far enough, in fact, to be named to the 40-man training roster of the U.S. men’s national team.

McKee, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound long-stick midfielder who hails from Old Greenwich, Conn., just began his senior year at Duke. Also this fall, as a member of the U.S. training roster, McKee will have a chance to compete in a series of three tryout weekends. Those tryouts will determine the final 23-man roster that will represent the United States in the FIL World Lacrosse Championships in Manchester, England, in July 2010.

To put McKee’s placement on the training roster in perspective, consider this: There were only two college players who made the cut — McKee and Duke fifth-year senior Ned Crotty.

“I wanted to come out of [the tryouts] saying that I gave everything I had,” McKee said. “I also had a lot of fun hanging with those guys because I don’t know how many more opportunities I’ll have like that. Luckily, I was chosen to move onto the next cut and I’m doing everything I can to get into the best shape I can.”

Pressler, who is now coaching at Bryant University in Rhode Island, credited the strength of McKee’s June tryout as the biggest factor in his making the training roster.

“Going into it, I had no agenda as to who was going to make it and who wasn’t going to make it,” Pressler said. “I can certainly say that nobody won a spot based solely on reputation. But for Parker to make this team, I think this says to anybody who knows anything about the process that he was just outstanding at the tryout.”

Added Pressler: “For me, to see how far Parker has come as a defenseman at the Division  1 level, he has without question ever exceeded my expectations. I thought he would be a good player, certainly a starter in time, but to be an elite player now regarded as one of the top few defensemen in the country … if you asked me four years ago when we signed him if that was going to happen, I’d say no way. The credit goes to Parker on this one.”

McKee’s prep school coach, Kevan Bowler, appears less surprised by his former player’s success. Bowler, still the coach at McKee’s alma mater, the Berkshire School in Sheffield, Mass., recalls McKee as a younger player who was determined to put in whatever effort was required to get better.

Said Bowler: “During his sophomore year, Parker asked me who I thought was the best defenseman I’d seen play while I had been coaching. My answer was Brody Merrill, who would eventually go on to win Defensive Player of the Year honors at Georgetown four years later.  At that point Parker said to me, ‘I want to be as good as him. What do I have to do?’ I told Parker a couple of things, and true to his word, he got up in the mornings before classes to run, even as a three-sport athlete, would lift after most practices and started working on his foot speed. He was open to any coaching suggestions I made, and his work ethic set him apart from many of the guys he played against.” 

Another aspect of McKee’s game that sets him apart is a highly developed skill set brought over from years of playing hockey, his other true athletic passion. He specifically credits his hockey background with enhancing his stickhandling skills, which enabled McKee to finish second on the Duke squad with 93 ground balls in 2009. Within his arsenal, McKee also utilizes a converted hockey move — which he refers to as the Dangle — that consistently leaves lacrosse opponents puzzled just long enough to leave them in the dust.

According to McKee’s father, Rusty, who played defensive back on the Syracuse University football team in the 1970s: “A few players know it, many are trying to copy it, and hardly any individual Division  1 player can stop it. It usually takes two or three, and with that, he’s won already because by then there are usually one or two people open on his team.”

Explaining the details of the move, McKee’s father said: “Once Parker picks up a ground ball, instead of raising his stick, he holds it down extremely low to the ground and keeps it there. He then takes a step one way, reverses and spins back the other way so by the time the other players figure out, ‘Oh, the stick isn’t going up, I can’t poke-check him’, he twists away and he’s already by them. It baffles the opponents because they don’t know what to do — you know, if they should go for the head or the end of his stick — and by that time he’s gone.”

McKee credits some of his effectiveness last season with playing alongside his twin brother Will, an offensive midfielder who transferred to Duke a year ago from St. Lawrence.

“There’s definitely been a lot of trust that we have on the field,” Parker said. “We have a lot of chemistry since we’ve been playing together for so long. I’m confident throwing passes to Will that I wouldn’t to other people just because I know he’s going to catch them. We both know we have each other’s backs in all situations so it gives you a little more confidence when you’re on the ball. There’s definitely a connection there that’s unique to us.”

Looking back on a season that some considered to be a surprising success, one in which the Blue Devils won the ACC championship against a tough Virginia squad and fought all the way to the final four before suffering a lopsided loss to eventual champion Syracuse, McKee said: “We lost pretty badly to Syracuse, but looking back on it, we had a lot of highlights, too. It’s disappointing not winning the national championship because that’s everybody’s goal. But the tournament itself is awesome. It’s a special thing that not many people appreciate because they don’t get to be a part of it.”

Reflecting further, he added: “We graduated a lot of talent offensively and defensively and we lost a lot of chemistry, so it was a big year for us to rebuild that. At a place like Duke, we’re able to draw talent, but as the old saying goes, You can return talent, but you can’t return chemistry.”

According to Duke coach John Danowski, McKee has played a big role in maintaining a strong team chemistry with his leadership and on-field example of hard work. He also commended McKee for his decision to remain committed to Duke despite the rape allegation turmoil that surrounded the program at the time.

Said Danowski: “I think Parker showed great character in deciding to come to Duke at a time when there was no guarantee that the program, in the spring of 2006, was going to even exist by the next fall. He showed great integrity by sticking to his original plan of committing to a place and coming to Duke. There were four other men [from that recruiting class] who decided to go elsewhere, which was fine, it was something that everybody had to face, but I’d like to think that things have really paid off for him now that he’s stuck with us.”

Aside from the final round of tryouts for the U.S. team that loom ahead for him, McKee also eagerly anticipates soaking up his final season at Duke.
“It’s our goal to win the national championship,” McKee said. “We have to take the appropriate steps to get there. It’s going to be about taking one day at a time, building a good foundation and working together in the fall to achieve that.”