The young men who learned the game under Coach McCool and went on to do remarkable things, on the court and well beyond it.
McCool measured success not in trophies but in the lives his players built. These are a few of the Majors and Spartans who carried his lessons forward.
A starter on the 1979 state-title team who went straight from the championship to West Point. He rose to four-star general, served as the 60th Superintendent of West Point, the first African American to lead the academy, and later commanded U.S. Army Europe and Africa.
A two-time All-Met guard and one of the finest shooters in West Springfield history, the star of McCool's Spartans. Over his three varsity seasons the team went 72–6, winning three straight region titles and reaching two state finals, including the 1974 title game against Moses Malone's Petersburg. He scored 1,458 career points (second in school history) and averaged 23.5 as a senior, then went on to the University of Virginia, where he was a member of the only Cavaliers team to win the ACC Tournament until 2014.
A Mount Vernon guard in the McCool era who went on to star at James Madison University. At JMU he was the 1982–83 ECAC South Tournament MVP and a two-time all-tournament selection across 118 career games. He later returned to education and is listed on the Mount Vernon High School staff.
A sharp-shooting 6'3" guard who starred for McCool at Mount Vernon in the early 1980s, then earned All-CAA honors at James Madison University (1986–87) and a place on the 1987 All-CAA Tournament team. He came home as a teacher and beloved principal, known as "Mr. Mount Vernon," leading the very school where he had graduated and taught for over a decade, as well as West Potomac and later Forest Park. A McCool player who gave back to the community that shaped him.
A 6'4" sharp-shooting swingman (No. 44) who played for McCool at Mount Vernon before starring at George Mason. He poured in 23 points in his college debut and averaged 10.1 points as a freshman in 1984–85, shooting 50% from the field, and became the Patriots' "resident sharpshooter" who couldn't wait to pull the trigger once the three-point line arrived. An Alexandria native and business accounting major, he appeared in all 61 games across his first two seasons.
A Mount Vernon Major who starred in basketball, football, and baseball, helping the school to a Northern Region championship. He went on to pitch in the major leagues, mostly for the San Francisco Giants, and in 1983 led the entire National League with a 2.25 ERA on his way to the All-Star team, one of the finest seasons by any pitcher of his era.
An Alexandria native and Mount Vernon multi-sport star, a basketball standout who also quarterbacked the Majors to the 1983 football state championship. He became one of Old Dominion University's all-time great guards, setting the school's career assists record (883, long among the top 20 in NCAA history) and earning team MVP and honorable-mention All-America honors. He went on to a long Division I coaching career, with assistant roles at Old Dominion, Radford, Dayton, and Clemson.
Played on the #1-ranked 1981–82 Majors and became a longtime New Journal and Guide columnist whose tribute, "Coach Don McCool: Hall of Famer," preserved many of McCool's stories in print.
This page is built to grow. Many more Majors and Spartans earned college scholarships and went on to lead in their fields, and their stories can be added here. See also the Coaching Tree.