Flint Northern, 1971
2025 Greater Flint African American Sports Hall of Fame Inductee
Category: Basketball
Thomas “Tom” McGill has been synonymous with Flint-area basketball since the late 1960s. He is a proud graduate of Flint Northern High School where he excelled on the basketball court at the center position. In his senior season at Flint Northern, he averaged 22.9 points and 14 rebounds per game, earning All-Valley and All-State honors. He was the first Flint Northern basketball player to achieve those honors in almost 20 years.
Tom helped Flint Northern Men’s Basketball team capture the 1971 State Championship. His talent was on full display in the title game, scoring 24 points to lead the Vikings to a 79-78 win over Detroit Kettering. It was Flint Northern’s first state championship in over 20 years. Tom scored 553 total points and grabbed 303 rebounds in his senior season at Flint Northern. He finished his high school career with over 1,000 points scored breaking the Flint city career scoring record. At the end of his senior season his number “54” was retired at Flint Northern.
The “Mr. Basketball” Award, which is given to the best high school basketball player in the state of Michigan, didn’t exist in 1971 but in 2011 Tom was retroactively named as a finalist for the award by the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan. For his efforts at Flint Northern he was awarded an athletic scholarship to Michigan State University.
Thomas McGill, you are the true definition of being “Flint Strong!” You have made Flint proud, welcome to the Greater Flint African American Sports Hall of Fame!
