March 8, 2016
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – Spend five minutes with UCF junior center Justin McBride and anyone will instantly notice his magnetic personality.
He is the glue that holds a group together.
“I don’t believe in leaving anybody behind,” McBride said. “Love is genuine. It’s a verb. I don’t have to say it all the time but I show it with everything that I do, especially in regards to my teammates because that’s all I know.”
McBride grew up in the city of Starke, a sleepy town sandwiched between Gainesville and Jacksonville. The McBrides lived down a dirt road where no one locked their doors.
His sense of loyalty to family stems from his upbringing. His father has been a pastor at the same church for 15 years – the church where McBride spent his younger days playing the drums for the choir.
He said his motivation to play basketball is his big brother, James McBride, now the junior varsity basketball coach at their alma mater, Bradford High School.
And then there’s his little sister, Coretta.
When McBride was in middle school, a distant cousin passed away. The family drove to Valdosta, Ga., to pay their respects to his great aunt (the mother of his late cousin).
While sitting in the living room, McBride saw a tyke, sucking on her thumb, peep her head around the corner. Coretta, who was being cared for by his great aunt, walked over to McBride’s mother and sat contently in her lap for the duration of their visit.
“Next thing I know, my mom said, ‘Let me take this baby,’” McBride said. “We always wanted a girl in the house. It just never turned out that way. So we came home with the baby.”
The two have grown incredibly close. Now 8, Coretta idolizes McBride and always wants to be in the stands cheering for him. He takes her for ice cream when he visits Starke. He sings with her in the car. He lets her braid his hair and play with his beard.
If he’s ever feeling unmotivated or tired, he just has to think of his family.
“My mom, my dad, to see the sacrifices they made for me to be here, my big brother – the reason I play basketball, and my little sister keep me moving,” he said. “Family is everything to me.”
The first in his immediate family to attend college, McBride found that family-like atmosphere at UCF.
As a freshman two years ago, McBride credits Isaiah Sykes, Tristan Spurlock and Myles Davis with helping shape him into the person he is now. Now a junior, he is trying to be that big-brother-type influence for Tacko Fall.
In addition to showing Fall the ins and outs of college basketball, McBride also tries to help the 7-foor-6 Senegal native adjust to life in America as a semi-celebrity.
“He’s been a great encourager and his attitude has been very good. He’s one of the best encouragers of Tacko and really coaching him every day with his development,” UCF head coach Donnie Jones said of McBride’s leadership. “Justin has always had that great charism and that great personality.”
McBride has also found a sense of familial unity with UCF’s Gospel and Culture Choir. He joined to reconnect to his roots as a musician, and although his basketball schedule demands a good chunk of his time, he attempts to be at every practice on Mondays and Thursdays.
The group traveled to Starke for a surprise performance on his father’s 15th anniversary at the church in October.
Blending his worlds never seems to be an issue. Whether it’s among the 5,400 people in Starke or 60,000 at UCF, McBride feels he is home.
“It’s an honor and a privilege,” McBride said of his life as a student-athlete. “It’s refreshing to be around people who have the same heart as you. You all do this one thing that brings us together.”
Story by Jenna Marina