Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Athletics Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 1988
- Class:
- 1928
Known as the “Fighting Scotsman,” Jackie McKown was a standout football, basketball and baseball player for Marshall teams in the 1920s. The Ripley, W.Va., native was a star center for the football team, including the 1925 squad coached by Charles Tallman that won the inaugural West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship. As a basketball player, McKown was a forward who played for four different head coaches in his four seasons, serving as a captain for Coach Johnny Stuart as a senior, scoring an almost unheard of (for the time) 23 points in a 49-30 win over a Charleston Senators team made up of former college stars. McKown played right field for the Marshall baseball team, and as a senior helped Coach Stuart’s nine to a 15-2 record and the first of four straight WVIAC baseball titles.
As a senior, McKown was also the Marshall student body president and after his career was complete he served for a time as the school’s athletic business manager. McKown went on to a long and distinguished career as a teacher, coach and principal in Wayne County, and served as a West Virginia state senator from 1941-56 and again from 1959-72. His son, Dr. Charles McKown, would later serve for 22 years as dean of the Marshall medical school. McKown was inducted into the Marshall Athletic Hall of Fame in 1988.
