Hall of Fame
Coach Collie’s arrival at McKendree College in 1952 set in motion a long-standing tradition of consistent wins at the conference level in both basketball and baseball. He coached his basketball teams to five consecutive Prairie College Conference Championships and a second-place win at the Sunshine Tournament in Portales, New Mexico. His 1955-56 team earned the school’s first post-season bid, a trip to the state’s NAIA Final Four. His McKendree basketball victories totaled 102. In baseball he coached the first four season of the Bearcat baseball team’s reactivation of baseball as a varsity sport. His teams won three consecutive Prairie College conference title between 1953 and 1956. Coach Collie also served as McKendree athletic director during his tenure. Leaving McKendree in 1957 to accept a basketball coaching position at Illinois State University, he led his teams to four interstate conference championships and three trips to the national tournament. He was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1974. He is also a member of the Illinois State University Athletic Hall of Fame.
