ST. LOUIS — Sometimes success can be traced, like if you have a father and mother who set a good example and are always trying to help their kids from day one. That child has a good chance.
That is the way Kevin Lisch grew up and it's all paid off. He's lived a fascinating basketball life all over the world.
He has spun his way to an incredibly successful basketball career, and now after being across the globe about 10,000 miles away, he has returned home.
"I left in 2009 by myself, and I come back with a wife and four kids," Lisch said.
Lisch grew up in a family of four kids in Belleville, Illinois.
His father Rusty, a former NFL player, would work them out every night. No traveling around the country with the Amateur Athletic Union. Just a trip to a grade school gym.
"My dad put us through the most grueling, you know, workouts physically and mentally but I enjoyed it every step of the way as well," he said. "There were blood, sweat and tears but we stayed as a family. We helped each other out and I was pretty blessed to grow up in the household I did."
At Althoff Catholic High School, this lethal shooting lefty left as the school's all-time leading scorer with 2,000 points.
At Saint Louis University, he turned out to be one of the greatest Billikens of all time. A Hall of Famer and a member of their all-century team.
Then, he has an 11-year career in Australia where he did everything. He won two league MVPs, a finals MVP, a scoring title and a championship.
After three years of coaching there, he walked off the court and two weeks ago into the offices of Mosaic Family Wealth, a billion-dollar wealth firm run by a fellow Billiken Hall of Famer.
"When we look at adding team members, we always look for three things — humble, hungry and smart. And I don't know that I've met too many people that have more humility or that are hungrier than Kevin Lisch," Scott Highmark said. "He's smart, not just IQ but EQ. He has a pattern of success, he's been successful at everything he has done so there's no reason to believe he wouldn't be successful doing this."
But the legend from Belleville, SLU and Australia is not exactly staring at the top. His title at the firm is "Client Service Associate."
"How exciting is that? I feel like everywhere I went playing basketball, switching teams, I always had to prove myself," Lisch said. "I think if you have a little humility and always have a thirst to learn, it can be daunting, it can be scary but it's pretty exciting too."
The thing you must understand about this partnership of former shooting stars is that Highmark is the fifth all-time leading scorer at SLU with 1,703 points and Lisch is sixth, just 12 points behind.
5 On Your Side brought them to Chaifetz Arena, home to SLU's basketball team, to see if they still had the touch.
"Was it easier to hire him knowing you are fifth on the all-time scoring list and he is sixth and you're 12 points ahead?" 5 On Your Side's Frank Cusumano said.
"We do kid about that because thankfully he has no more eligibility. He was a much better player than me at both college and after college but he can't beat me on the all-time list," Highmark said.
"He has reminded you that he is five and your six at least once, right?" Cusumano said.
"That's a prerequisite everyday I come into the office, I have to be reminded. No, I'm joking." Lisch said. "He's pretty humble about it."
It was a bold move for the Lisch family to come this far to try something new, but it appears to be a fit.
"I wasn't going to move my family all away across the world just for a specific job in a specific industry. It had to be more about the values aligning and that side of things. I feel blessed to be in this situation," Lisch said.
Kevin Lisch has come home and he has a new teammate with him now.