Duncan McAdoo has deep roots in Winnsboro, so it stands to reason that after college and a career in professional baseball, he decided to come home to work and raise his family.

McAdoo’s grandparents are Nelda Larue McAdoo Bradley and the late Don McAdoo. His father, Mike, was raised here and brought wife, Lori, home to open a dental practice in 1984.

Duncan graduated from Winnsboro High School in 1996, the first of his three siblings, Dillon, Lauren and Lindsey, to complete 12 years at WISD.

McAdoo and his wife, Beverly Cain McAdoo, were high school sweethearts.

They married in 2001 and have three girls – Kendal, 14, and twins Kennedie and Kaitlyn, 10.

Beverly’s following in her mother’s footsteps, teaching FCCLA at Winnsboro. Melinda Cain retired last year after more than 30 years with WISD.

An outstanding high school athlete, Duncan pitched for the University of Houston from 1997 through 2000 and was drafted by the San Diego Padres. He pitched for them until 2004.

After Kendal was born, Beverly moved home.

The McAdoo family, Duncan, Beverly, Kendal, Kennedie and Kaitlyn, spend a lot of time supporting WISD sports. (Courtesy Photo)

“She didn’t want us to raise Kendal in the city,” Duncan said during a recent interview in his office at Prosperity Bank.

 

When he was released from the Padres, McAdoo was at a crossroads.

“I didn’t know what I wanted to do,” he confessed. “I had some opportunities to keep playing, but I knew I had played way beyond my means.”

He earned a degree in sports administration from U of H and could have stayed on with the Padre organization, but decided to come back to East Texas in 2004.

“I was fortunate to have an opportunity with Mineola Community Bank,” he explained. “I started out as branch manager and was promoted to vice president later on.”

Mineola Community Bank experienced a time of growth during the 12 years McAdoo was there, moving from the building that now houses Peoples Telephone to a new site across from city hall.

“It was an exciting time,” he said.

In January of  this year, McAdoo was presented with another great opportunity when Prosperity Bank came calling.

“I didn’t expect it,” he noted. “They are the second largest bank in Texas, with 225 locations. I was a little intimated to come talk to them. I was in a much smaller bank.”

As it worked out, McAdoo was hired as vice president and was quickly promoted to banking center president in August.

“I was hired to develop the market,” he stated. “There hadn’t been a lender [in the bank] here since Franklin Bank.”

McAdoo said he was delighted that many of his former customers followed him.

“It was important,” he said. “It made me feel I had done them a good job and they felt that loyalty. It didn’t feel like I was starting over.”

Prosperity Bank has more than 20 offices in the East Texas region.

“I’ve got two really good guys as my supervisors,” he noted. “I think I’ve shown them the type of business I can bring. We’re going to have a very good year. The sky’s the limit.”

Prosperity Bank has grown through acquisitions. It purchased Franklin Bank from the FDIC in 2008. It recently purchased a small bank in South Texas.

“They are constantly looking for new acquisitions,” he said. “Prosperity Bank is the hunter, not the hunted.”

McAdoo’s supervisors quickly realized he needed an assistant. Sheri Thomas, who was with new accounts, volunteered.

“New accounts and lending responsibilities go hand-in-hand,” McAdoo explained. “She knows a lot about commercial accounts and how they are set up. I couldn’t  have gone out and hand-picked anybody better.”

Joining Thomas and McAdoo are: Marilyn Likes, lobby manager and vice president; Joan Box, drive through bank teller; Elizabeth Woodworth, new accounts and part-time teller Mary McNeil.

McAdoo says he plans to continue to use the skills he learned in sports – structure, discipline and time management  –  keep his head down, stay on the path and go full steam ahead.

Prosperity Bank’s focus for their Winnsboro center is to “grow loans inside the bank.”

That’s a perfect fit for McAdoo.

“I’ve got a 12-page rate sheet,” he said with a laugh. “We can do commercial to agriculture to home loans – anything under the boot. I mean anything. The product list is limitless. Our lending authority to one person is so much greater under the capacity of the bank.”

While he has the lending power of a large bank behind him, McAdoo knows the importance of being a community bank.

“I never got to participate in banking when you could go in somewhere and shake somebody’s hand and make a deal,” he explained. “As much as banking has evolved, that’s the part we miss.”

If he believes in somebody or something, however, he goes to bat for them.

“It’s like silver bullets,” he said. “You want to keep some available to you, but there are going to be times where you say, ‘By gosh, trust me on this.’”

Being raised in Winnsboro, McAdoo also knows the importance of community involvement.

The bank supports many local organizations, including the Autumn Trails Association, Rotary (Likes is a long-time member) and Northeast Texas Child Advocacy Center. They recently lent their support to the annual hay show, a first for them.

On a personal level, McAdoo is involved in little league and serves as a referee for high school basketball games and youth football games. He also has been a member of the city’s park and recreation board.

“I was very fortunate that my dad was so well known,” he said. “I’m trying to live up to that name with the legacy he set.”

He says he’s attempting to follow in his father’s footsteps and to do his mama proud.

So far, so good.