Lee Winfield: A great man
The St. Louis basketball community lost a tremendous individual on Friday with the passing of Lee Winfield. Winfield died on Friday, February 4, 2011, on his 64th birthday.
This is devastating news to all of us who knew “Coach Win.” He was a great player, a wonderful coach and mentor, a great man and a treasured friend to all of us who knew and loved him.
Most people remember Winfield as a valued assistant coach to both Rich Grawer at Saint Louis University and Norm Stewart at the University of Missouri during some very successful seasons during the 1980s and early 1990s.
Winfield was also a great basketball player during his time.
A 1965 graduate of Sumner High, Winfield made the unlikely journey from a high school role player to a seven-year National Basketball Association veteran. The 6’3″ Winfield was a great leaper who was used primarily to win the opening tip during his senior year at Sumner. He wasn’t a top scorer or an All-PHL player in high school.
Winfield began to develop as a top player at St. Louis Baptist Junior College (now Missouri Baptist University). He played well enough to earn a scholarship at North Texas State, where he was a two-year standout and a NCAA Division II All-American in 1969.
Winfield was drafted by the Seattle Supersonics in the third round of the NBA Draft. He spent seven years in the NBA with the Supersonics and Buffalo Braves. His most productive seasons came in 1970 and ’71 when he averaged more than 10 points a game with Seattle. He was also a key member of the Braves’ 1975 playoff team which featured former NBA scoring champion Bob McAdoo.
Lee Winfield was a true testament of what hard work and dedication can do for an athlete who strives to be the best he can be. His story was a great inspiration to the many athletes that he would go on to coach and mentor after his playing days were over.
After his playing career, Winfield entered the coaching ranks. Winfield spent 10 seasons as an assistant coach at Saint Louis University where rode shotgun alongside head coach Rich Grawer in the resurrection of the SLU program. Both native St. Louisans brought the SLU program back to relevance by bringing the top local talent to the Billikens.
Through his relationships in the city as a former PHL player, Winfield brought in top PHL players such as Luther Burden, Darryl “Pee Wee” Lenard, Monroe Douglass, Roland Gray and Anthony Bonner to a program that flourished in the late 1980s, which included back-to-back championship game appearances in the National Invitational Tournament. Thanks to Grawer and Winfield, the Billikens went from a program that was on the verge of dropping basketball to national sombodies.
Winfield later joined Norm Stewart at Missouri, where he helped guide the Tigers to a Big 8 Conference championship and undefeated league record in 1994. Mizzou advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament as well.
One of the starters on that team was Winfield’s son, Julian Winfield, a former Parade All-American at Cardinal Ritter College Prep. Winfield’s daughter, Lezlie Winfield, was also a standout player at Normandy High School and Saint Louis U.
I received the sad news about Coach Win’s death on Saturday morning just moments before we were to go on the air to broadcast the SLU-Xavier game from Cincinnati. Both my broadcast partner Bob Ramsey and I broke down as we delivered the sad news to our listening audience. We loved Lee because he was such a wonderful friend to all of us.
We will all remember Coach Win’s bow ties that he always sported during his coaching days. We will always remember that soft, yet husky voice that commanded respect wherever he went.
Our prayers are with Christine, Julian and Lezlie Winfield and the rest of the family on their loss. I hope you take solace in the fact that Lee touched many lives, young and old, while he was here with us. He was the best.
The visitation for Lee Winfield will be on Friday, Feb. 11 at Austin Layne Mortuary (7302 West Florissant) from 4-7 p.m. The funeral will be held on Saturday at Newstead Baptist Church (4370 N. Market St), beginning at 10 a.m.
Â
