BJ McCullum played basketball and golf at Spoon River College and was also an assistant coach, a head coach, the athletic director and eventually the director of athletics and auxiliary services.
With a record of 118-98 in seven years, BJ’s basketball teams received national rankings as high as 6th in 1989-90 and 3rd in 1990-91. BJ’s best record as an SRC coach was 25-7.
BJ served as an assistant and head coach for over 20 years at three different colleges: Spoon River, Lincoln, and Black Hawk East. His record was 411-276 overall and 394-266 as a head coach. His teams played in three national tournaments and he recruited and/or coached two National Players of the Year and 12 Junior College All Americans. Twenty-Nine of his players went on to play Division I Basketball, including Hall of Fame members Bobby Allen and Vance Clarke. Fourteen players went on to play professionally.