Beginning his first season as head coach of the Indiana State basketball program is Kevin McKenna. Indiana State University Director of Athletics Ron Prettyman announced, March 29 that Kevin McKenna has accepted an offer to become the 24th head men’s basketball coach at ISU. McKenna recently completed his ninth season at Creighton as an assistant coach, helping the Bluejays to a 22-11 record and the NCAA tournament this past season. In nine years the Bluejays went to four NCAA Tournaments as well as two National Invitation Tournaments. McKenna made the first of two stops on the Bluejays’ bench from 1994 through 2001, and then returned in 2005. Before McKenna returned to Creighton, he spent four highly successful years across town as head coach of NCAA Division II Nebraska-Omaha, where he guided the Mavericks to four consecutive 20-win seasons, two North Central Conference titles and three appearances in the NCAA Division II Tournament. The 47-year old McKenna was named the NCC Coach of the Year in both 2004 and 2005 as well as North Central Regional Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) in 2005. He finished with an 89-33 mark in his tenure at UNO. In his first campaign with the Mavericks, UNO set a school record with 24 wins as they made their first visit to the NCAA Division II Tournament in 17 seasons. The 24-9 record was a 15-win improvement from the 9-17 team he inherited and ranked as one of the nation’s top turnarounds. Prior to his arrival at UNO, the Mavs had not won a league title since 1984 and had not won more than 20 games in a season since 1990. As a player at Creighton from 1977-1981, McKenna led the Bluejays to a Missouri Valley Conference regular-season championship, two MVC Tournament titles and a pair of NCAA Tournaments. He was an All-MVC pick and team MVP in each of his final two seasons. McKenna ended his collegiate career with exactly 1,500 points and was drafted in the fourth round of the 1981 draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. He was a member of the Lakers’ 1982 NBA championship team and also played for Indiana, New Jersey and Washington during a six-year NBA career. He remains the only person in league history to win an MVC regular-season title, MVC Tournament title, NBA championship and CBA crown. Following his NBA career, McKenna helped lead the La Crosse Catbirds to the 1989-90 CBA Championship as a player and assistant coach. He then served as the head coach and director of basketball operations for the CBA’s Sioux Falls Skyforce from 1990-93. He spent time as a regional scout for the Washington Bullets in 1993-94 before returning to Creighton as an assistant to Dana Altman in 1994. He earned his bachelor’s degree in organizational communications from Creighton in 1993 and added a master’s degree in counseling education from his alma mater in 1997. McKenna and his wife, Nancy, have a daughter Megan (22) and a son, Bobby (15). |
