Larry McCollum was born and raised in Clinton, Maryland, where he attended Surattsville High School. There he found a fair amount of success, reaching regional championships during his time there. McCollum also spent time on the tennis court, claiming a District Championship. After high school he attended NCAA Division I Towson University where he walked on the Men’s Basketball team in his Junior year.
Following college, McCollum knew that he wanted to get back into athletics, specifically youth athletics. He quickly found a job at Explosive Performance, as a performance coach, training basketball, baseball, and soccer players. He also interned as a strength and conditioning coach at Gallaudet University, a private university for the deaf and hard of hearing. His coaching career also includes time as a AAU Basketball Coach.
After his time at Gallaudet, McCollum chose to switch gears and join the military. “It provided me with a lot of experience, a lot of education, I met my wife through that, it brought me here to El Paso, where me and my wife feel like it’s home.” Larry and, his “best friend”, his wife Siggy have been married for 2 years, after meeting in Virginia at Military training. It was there that they find out that not only would they be transferred to Ft. Bliss, but they were going to be placed in the same unit. McCollum left the US Military after serving 3 years and 9 months, having attained the rank of First Lieutenant.
As most young basketball players hope for, Larry wanted to be a professional basketball player. Realizing that may not be in the cards and still wanting to pursue his two passions in life, Jesus and sports, he shifted his focus. He now wanted to help work with young athletes to get them to the highest level they could possibly go. “I’ve always had the same dream, and that is to serve Him in the passions that I have.”
Stepping into his new role as the Athletic Director at ICS, he wants to emphasize unity and communication amongst the Athletic Department. When asked about his focal point, McCollum said, “Making sure that we are all on the same page. Communication lines are established. We all have the same vision, the same mission, and it’s to raise up these young student-athletes, to disciple them in the ways of the Lord…We want to win, we want to build the program, but we don’t want to do that at the expense of the Gospel.”
When asked how he feels about taking on the role of AD at ICS, McCollum said, “I’m very excited. The program has a lot of potential. It has that potential because it is already a great program. When I say ‘it has potential’ just meaning the potential to continue to grow…The athletes here, they’re good athletes, and from my experience and working with some of them, they’re also good students and have an eagerness to live Christ-like lives.”
Larry is the youngest of 4 siblings. He believes that it was the godly upbringing on the part his mother that has helped firmly plant his roots in God. “My mom was the one who really just made sure that, you know, we were going to church, we were paying attention, we were in Sunday School, so I’m very grateful for her because I feel that gave me the roots, that I have in my faith.”
“I’m excited to just be a part of this team. To watch this team go from where we are right now, to where we are going to be, you know, 5, 10, 20 years down the road. I’m excited to play a piece in that.”
