Born and raised in Oliver, BC, Spencer McKay has compiled one of the most impressive basketball resumes in the country. After leading his SOSS Hornets to a 1986 Provincial Championship and having his jigj school number (#15) retired, McKay turned down numerous NCAA Division 1 offers and chose to stay in Canada to play for legendary coach Ken Shields and the UVic Vikings.
McKay began to leave his mark on the UVic basketball program immediately, leading the team in scoring and rebounding in his freshman year and earning the first of five Canada West conference all-star awards, both UVic firsts. McKay became a three-time All-Canadian while at UVic, and finished his career as the program's all-time scoring leader with 1682 points in conference play, a record which stands to this day.
McKay played for the Canadian national team program for ten years, making appearances in major international tournaments such as the 1987 FIBA U-19 World Championships (Bormio, Italy), the 1991 and 1993 FISU World University Games (Duisberg, Germany and Sheffield, UK), the 1993 Pan American Games (Havana, Cuba),and the 1994 FIBA World Championships in Toronto. He was teammates with two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash, as well as other NBA stars such as Rick Fox and Mike Smrek. McKay was a member of the historic FISU Silver Medal-wining team in Sheffield, UK, where Team Canada became the last basketball team to defeat the Soviet Union in international play.
After a 16-year professional basketball career, McKay transitioned to coaching, where he led his ISB Raiders (Brussels, Belgium) to consecutive ISST European high school titles before returning to Victoria, BC to study at the esteemed National Coaching Institute. Complementing his studies at the NCI, McKay was an Assistant Coach at UVic before being hired as the Lead Assistant Coach for the powerhouse UBC Thunderbirds, where he spent five successful seasons with Head Coach Kevin Hanson. During his time with UBC, McKay took the lead on Player Development, with 6 of his players going on to play professional basketball in the Euroleagues.
In 2014 McKay was inducted into the Basketball BC Hall of Fame, and in 2017 he was inducted into the University of Victoria Sports Hall of Fame.
McKay brings his incredible knowledge and unmatched international basketball experience to the South Okanagan, where he continues teaching basketball skills through his NBN Basketball academy, and also as a Youth Development Coordinator with Lake City Basketball in Penticton. An expert in talent identification, and widely regarded as one of the nation’s top skill developers, McKay will give you the necessary tools to help you and your team get to the next level.