Trio Set to be Recognized at Don Stewart Shootout

Legendary Lely basketball coach Don Stewart is excited for this weekend’s Don Stewart Shootout, Friday, January 5 through January 6 at the Lely gym. But it’s not just the on-court action that has Stewart excited. He’s also looking forward to honoring three men who helped launch his coaching career at Lely. And what a career it was. Stewart won 456 games, had ten 20-win seasons, and was named Southwest Florida Coach of the Year 10 times. He resides in Eastern Michigan University's Hall of Fame for his football and basketball accomplishments. 

"We would open the Lely gym,” Stewart said, “and all those kids would all come to those open gyms and play against grown men who could actually play. You got a guy like Mike McNees, who’s a Big Ten high jumper. You got a Shade Jones, you got a Bob Lundstrom. They’re big size people. And I could still play. I played at Eastern Michigan with George Gervin, Kennedy McIntosh, guys like that. We had a great faculty. Our kids from Lely grew up playing that competition. I'm convinced to this day that those open gyms helped us to get things off the ground. We're going to be presenting the plaques to Shade, Mike, and Bob on Saturday night between the First Baptist Academy and Lely games."

McNees coached for Stewart long before becoming Marco Island’s city manager.

“He's city manager for Marco Island,” Stewart said, “but he also was a very good basketball coach. He was single when he was helping me. Now he's married. I called him and said, "Mike, I want to honor you and Bob and Shade for helping me generate the kind of program we had there at Lely. He said, ‘Man, I'm so happy you called me. My wife doesn't believe half the stories I tell her. I'm glad she's going to see me get a plaque.'”

Stewart is proud of this year’s lineup that includes local statewide talent. Barron Collier, First Baptist Academy, Community School (FBA), Aubrey Rogers, Gulf Coast, and Lely are the local teams. Miami High, Miami Norland, St. Brendan (Miami), and Hallandale are the statewide entries.

FBA is coached by Stewart’s son Scott, who has had great success. Stewart sits on the bench with Scott during FBA games. Both Stewart’s sons, Stacy and Scott, played for their dad at Lely. Scott went on to an outstanding career at the University of Florida and in professional basketball overseas. Stacy was a standout quarterback at Lely in addition to being one of the Trojans’ top basketball players. He went on to a college football career.

Lely’s current coach, Fritz Jacques, was one of Stewart’s top players at Lely. He’s now in his twelfth year as Lely’s head coach. He is Lely’s second-winningest coach with 151 wins, trailing only his mentor.

"I'm just very thankful that I was at Lely all those years,” Stewart said. "I'm thankful that I was in a good position there, that we had a lot of people who supported basketball. I just look at that like a real blessing."