University of St. Thomas (November, 2016)

Anyone who has played for Larry McKenzie has heard “the creed.”

Former Minneapolis North two-sport star Tyler Johnson heard it before he was a Division I athlete at the University of Minnesota. Former Minneapolis Patrick Henry player Johnnie Gilbert heard it before he was playing basketball for the Oklahoma Sooners. Nick Anderson, a former student manager for McKenzie at Academy of Holy Angels whose abilities were doubted by many due to his cerebral palsy, has heard it and not forgotten it.

“It is something that I still live by today,” said Anderson, now a college student. “That is one thing that really sticks out about coach McKenzie is that when you are done with his program, the things he says before or after practice, during games, things that are life lessons, not just X’s and O’s, they stick with you.” READ MORE…