Craig McGee, Jr.

“Attending Roger Bacon was one of the best decisions in my life,” shares Craig McGee, class of 2017, “Roger Bacon was the place that helped me further my educational, athletic, and faith journey.”

Most remember Craig as a standout on the basketball court, where he was a second team all-state selection his senior year, while leading the Spartans to a state runner-up finish in the 2017 tournament. Among Craig’s accomplishments at Roger Bacon:

* School record holder in steals, assists, and second in games played at Roger Bacon HS in Cincinnati
* Ranked 9th all-time in scoring at Roger Bacon
* Only Roger Bacon player to play in three state tournament Final Fours
* Led team to a 25-8 record as a senior in 2016-17
* 2017 Conference Player of the Year
* Two-time first team all-conference honoree
* AP Ohio Southwest all-district first team
* Ohio All-Star and Cincinnati East/West All-Star
* National Honor Society
* Assisi Scholar Program

Craig is equally remembered at Roger Bacon as a leader in the classroom and the hallways, embracing all that Roger Bacon offered academically and spiritually.

“Roger Bacon, as many people know, is a very family-oriented academic community. This is due to the school’s size and the caring faculty that work there. It is very easy to feel like you are a part of the family, no matter your background,” explains Craig. “The aspect of Roger Bacon that I am most grateful for is their willingness to push me to be great. As an Assisi Scholar, attending a school with a 7-point grading scale, and taking over 10 AP or honors level classes there was no time for slacking. The professors were very respectful to me, but they also knew when to get on me if I was working in a manner below my potential. I was an Assisi Scholar at Roger Bacon, taking the most rigorous curriculum that was offered at the school, as well as playing basketball for the Spartans.”

Craig also credits the basketball program and head coach Brian Neal with his development.

“The basketball program helped me become a better man, developing my leadership abilities, my communication skills, and molding my definition of hard work into what it truly is today. I tell people all the time, I thought I knew what hard work was and then I stepped into Roger Bacon and my definition changed drastically,” shared Craig.

Craig is a devout Christian, but is not Catholic. Yet, he still found thereligious formation at Roger Bacon to be impactful, especially its strong Franciscan charism.

“One final thing I’m grateful for was the religious foundation. Although I’m not Catholic, I am a Christian and I was able to learn a lot about my faith. One of the most influential things faith wise that I learned from Roger Bacon was the importance of service to others. As a follower of Christ, we are called to serve others and that is something that I have taken from Roger Bacon and applied into my everyday life from community service to tutoring college students and others. Roger Bacon helped set the foundation for me, helping me grow in so many ways. Thanks to Roger Bacon, the support of my family, my hard work, and the grace of God, I was able to attend the #1 ranked Engineering College focused on Bachelor’s and Master’s education in the country,” says Craig.

The engineering school he speaks of is Rose-Hulman, as university that sits atop U.S. News & World Report’s list of top engineering schools for the 23^rd consecutive year. Craig studied computer engineering with a minor in computer science, while also earning a spot as a four year starter on the basketball program, racking up numerous honors on the court, including:

*The first 4X 1st-team all-conference selection in Rose-Hulman men's basketball history
* 2nd-team D3hoops.com All-Region selection in 2020 and 2021
* 1st-team NABC All-District selection in 2020
* HCAC Player of the Year in 2020
* D3hoops.com Great Lakes Region Rookie of the Year in 2018
* HCAC Freshman of the Year in 2018
* First player in Rose-Hulman history to reach 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists in a career
* Career school record holder with 522 assists
* Ranks No. 14 in Rose-Hulman history with 1,282 career points
* In 2020, ranked No. 3 in the HCAC in scoring (17.0 ppg), No. 2 in rebounding (8.0 rpg) and No. 1 in assists (6.7 apg)
* Team has a record of 59-34 in his era (37-17 HCAC)
* Member of 2018 HCAC regular season championship team
* Ranks No. 1 (173 in 2020) and No. 3 (157) in single-season assists at Rose-Hulman
* Recorded the first 3 triple-doubles in Rose-Hulman men's basketball history in 2019-20 (2) and 2020-21 (1)
* Single-game highs of 24 points (Franklin 2019); 12 rebounds (twice); 12 assists (Aurora 2019)
* Has reached double figures in scoring 67 times, with 24 games of 20 points or more
* Has 15 career double-doubles

As an added bonus, he also got to play with his younger brother, Josiah class of 2020, also a former Roger Bacon standout in the classroom and on the court.

At Rose-Hulman, Craig also continued his hard work in the classroom and sharing his faith in Christ among the school community, earning several accolades and distinctions:

* Dean's List honoree
* National Society of Black Engineers member
* Intervarsity Christian Fellowship
* Catalyst member
* RoseBud member
* Fellowship of Christian Athletes member
* Cybersecurity club

Craig also was able to serve on two campus ministries. He also stopped back to Roger Bacon last year to speak to the RB 180 youth ministry group about the power Christ has had in his life. He also came home this summer with his brother Josiah to help Coach Neal with his summer basketball camps, continuing to give back to the school and community he feels has given so much to him.

Craig graduated with his Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering with a minor in Computer Science this past spring.

“Currently I am a Consultant for Edgile, LLC where I’m working in the computer and network security field,” shares Craig. “I’m grateful for Roger Bacon in helping develop me into the man I am today. Look forward to seeing Roger Bacon continue to thrive. Go Spartans!”