From the court to courtrooms

News

by David Chapman

Staff Writer

The sport of basketball and the profession of law are two different things altogether, but Rod McIntyre can see the similarities between them.

“You have an offense and a defense, officials, players and most likely you’re going to get calls you don’t agree with,” said McIntyre.

If anyone could compare the two worlds, it’d be the 6-foot-9-inch former Jacksonville University men’s basketball player and current family law and real estate attorney.

For his efforts on the courts during his basketball days from 1967-70, McIntyre is one of six being inducted into the Jacksonville University Athletics Hall of Fame on Saturday, the first such class to be honored since 1998.

“It caught me off guard,” he said, talking of his reaction when he received the word from Hall of Fame Committee member and 1993 inductee Roger Strickland. “But I am definitely looking forward to it.”

McIntyre said he is bringing 80 people, including an assortment of family, friends, judges and others from the legal community he has met over the course of both careers.

Born and raised in Jacksonville, McIntyre’s basketball career almost never happened for the Dolphins. He wanted to stay in state and originally committed to the University of Florida and then-head coach Norm Sloan. When Sloan left for his alma mater, North Carolina State, in 1966, McIntyre looked elsewhere and talked with then-JU head coach Joe Williams.

“He was a visionary,” said McIntyre, of Williams. “During his recruiting talk, he talked about getting the community and businesses involvement and he sold me on that vision.”

After a successful playing career that saw the team gain national exposure and frenzied community support, McIntyre graduated and was drafted by the New York Nets of the ABA and the Boston Celtics of the NBA, but his basketball career ended soon after.

After several successful business ventures through the years involving trade and real estate, his friend and Circuit Court Judge Mack Crenshaw urged him to stop by the Florida Coastal School of Law to inquire about law school.

Originally, McIntyre declined, saying he was too old. But on his way home one day he decided to swing by the campus on a whim. Director of Admissions Steve Jones saw him and remembered him from his playing days and immediately tried to convince McIntyre to attend the law school.

Jones was persistent, McIntyre said, and brought in the help of the school’s founder, Don Lively.

From there, the second recruiting pitch for McIntyre was underway.

“He (Lively) was charismatic, much like Joe Williams,” said McIntyre. “It’s kind of funny, he was a senior at UCLA during the year JU played them in the national championship game in 1970.”

He was convinced and enrolled, taking five classes his first semester.

The hefty books and lengthy assignments were somewhat of a shock for McIntyre, but he knew he’d have to put in extra time in order to succeed.

Unlike the team sport of basketball, he said, law school was based primarily on individual success or failure and was stressful at times.

He graduated in 2000 and then took the Bar Exam shortly after and said though law school was a blur, he remembers every detail of the “Big Bad Bear” exam.

“After the first day, I thought I was fine until I started trying to go to sleep,” he said. “Then things started going through my head and I didn’t sleep a minute that night.”

He passed the exam and under the mentoring of several legal friends, gained practical experience until he was ready to open his own office in 2001.

He enjoys the job but still sees parallels between his current and former passions on a daily basis.

“I enjoy the intellectual side of law,” he said. “It’s a lot like basketball, though, because you have to be good on your feet and moving, as well as always being ready for the unpredictable nature of the business.”

Who’s running?

So far, no incumbent judges have drawn an opponent. However, judicial hopefuls have until Friday at noon to qualify for Circuit Court, County Court, State Attorney or Public Defender. According to the state elections office, as of 6 a.m. Wednesday, none of the Circuit or County Court incumbents or candidates had qualified.

Circuit Judge

Group 2 Jean Johnson (incumbent)

Group 4 Jim Daniel

Group 5 Gregg McCaulie (incumbent)

Group 10 Lance Day (incumbent)

Group 11 Mark Husley III, Adrian Soud

Group 12 Don Moran Jr. (incumbent)

Group 13 David Gooding (incumbent)

Group 14 Peter Fryefield (incumbent)

Group 19 Jeff Morrow

Group 21 John Skinner (incumbent)

Group 27 Brad Stetson (incumbent)