Justin McIntee

Bryce Alderton

The familiarity of home, the smell of the ocean, the soft feel of the

sand under one’s feet.

These are sensations Justin McIntee still enjoys while living in

Costa Mesa, near the Newport Beach home he grew up in and the schools

he attended.

The 1992 Newport Harbor High graduate, who was named Sea View

League Male Athlete of the Year for his feats in volleyball,

basketball and even football for one season, married Joelle Mockabee

last year and is soaking up the Southern California lifestyle.

The McIntees play beach volleyball when they can and Justin still

competes on the basketball court twice a week in two recreational

leagues.

He began shooting jumpers at age 6 at the Lou Yantorn Branch of

the Boys & Girls Club in Costa Mesa.

During the week the 29-year-old graduate of Southern California

College (now Vanguard University) works for a commercial financial

company in Newport Beach.

He still loves the lure of Newport-Mesa, an area he didn’t stray

too far from when he went to college.

McIntee, a middle blocker, first signed a scholarship to play

volleyball at Long Beach State, but seeking to attend a school with

fewer people, he chose Biola University in La Mirada and played

basketball for two years there before attending SCC his final two

years. McIntee, who played forward, holds the Newport Harbor record

for points in a game with 43. Once at SCC he played for Bill

Reynolds.

“The main reason I wanted to go to Biola was because the class

sizes were smaller and there was accountability to doing well and

succeeding,” McIntee said.

He met Joelle at SCC, where she played four years on the

volleyball team. Justin graduated from Vanguard in 1998 with a degree

in business.

“The faculty had a tremendous impact on me and I still talk with a

few of my business professors,” McIntee said. “They invested into my

life personally, so I still have close ties with them.”

McIntee remains grateful to the education he got at SCC, where he

once was a part-time assistant under former men’s basketball coach

Stephen French.

McIntee and Walt Simon, the Vanguard men’s basketball assistant

under head coach Bob Wilson, know each other well and McIntee sees

nothing but positives for the program.

“Simon and Wilson are a tremendous combination,” McIntee said.

“[Walt] is a great asset to the program.” Simon’s son, Miles Simon,

starred at Mater Dei and was the point guard on the University of

Arizona’s 1997 NCAA championship team.

Four years ago McIntee led a youth basketball team at the Yantorn

branch and guided the boys frosh-soph volleyball squad at Newport two

years ago, which won the Sea View League championship.

“It is great to give back to a place I grew up at,” McIntee said

of the Yantorn branch.

For now, though, he doesn’t sense a career in coaching

approaching.

When he isn’t in the office, the McIntees can often be found on

the sand or grass, with a volleyball not far away.

“We play together all the time, we form a good co-ed team,” Justin

said.