High School:

Sumner High School (Kansas City, KS) (graduated 1932)

College:

Kansas City Junior College (1932-33)

University of Kansas (graduated 1936)

University of Iowa, masters degree (graduated 1937)

College Playing Highlights:

Did not play, since African Americans were not accepted on intramural or varsity teams at the time

Learned basketball from Dr. James Naismith while an undergraduate at Kansas 

High School Coaching:

Lawrence (KS) Memorial High School (1934-36)

Kansas Vocational School (Topeka, KS) (1937) 
High School Coaching Highlights: 

Kansas-Missouri Athletic Conference championship (1936) 

College Coaching:

North Carolina College (Durham, NC), assistant basketball coach (1937-40)

North Carolina College, head basketball coach and physical education professor (1940-52)

Hampton Institute (Hampton, VA), head basketball coach, assistant football coach and physical education professor (1952-54) 

Tennessee State A&I University (Nashville, TN) (1954-59)

Kentucky State College (Frankfort, KY) (1963-66)

Cleveland State University (1966-69) 

College Coaching Highlights:

Overall college coaching record: 523-165

North Carolina record: 264-60

Coached teams that won eight Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) titles between 1941 and 1952 (1941, 1943-44, 1946-47, 1949-50, 1952)

Hampton Institute record: 32-14

Coached team to its best record in 26 years (19-5 in 1952-53)

Tennessee record: 149-20

Mid-West Athletic Conference championship (1955-57, 1959, 1964, 1966)

Three consecutive NAIA national championships (1957-59)

First coach in history to win three consecutive national titles

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Coach of the Year (1958)

Kentucky record: 51-30

Mid-West AA Co-champions (1966)

Cleveland record: 27-41

Coached team to its best record in the school's history (1969)

Metropolitan Award, New York Basketball Writers Association (1977)

Enshrined in Helms Athletic (1962), Louisiana State Black Athletic (1975), CIAA (1978), National Sports (1978), NAIA (1982), North Carolina Central University (1983), Tennessee State University (1984), Extra Point Club of Atlanta (1985), Mid-Western Athletic Conference (1986), Laurinburg Institute (1987), and Chicago Public League (1991) Halls of Fame

Took U.S. College All-Star Team to Sweden, Russia and France and won all 10 games (1961)

Associate coach, World University Games (1965, 1967)

Member, U.S. Olympic Basketball Committee (1966)

Member, Olympic coaching staff (1968, 1972)

Basketball arena at Cleveland State named in his honor (1992)

Championed for heightened awareness of basketball at all-black colleges and helped initiate an era of integrated basketball 

Has traveled the world promoting basketball

Author of two books, Fast Break Basketball and The Fast Break Game 

Pro Coaching:

NIBL Cleveland Pipers (1959-61)

ABL Cleveland Pipers (1961-62)

ABA Denver Rockets (1969-70) 

Pro Coaching Highlights:

NIBL and AAU championships (1961)

First African American head coach in the ABL

ABL Eastern Division title (1962) 

Bio:

John McLendon's engaging personality made him a popular basketball figure for more than 60 years. His extraordinary knowledge of basketball history made him one of the game's leading ambassadors. But, it is his coaching resume that makes many in the profession envious. McLendon, who learned basketball from Dr. James Naismith as an undergraduate at Kansas, is the first coach in history to win three consecutive national titles. McLendon earned this honor by guiding Tennessee State to the 1957, 1958 and 1959 NAIA national championships. His teams featured superior conditioning, a patented fastbreak offense and an aggressive in-your-face defensive attitude. McLendon championed for heightened awareness of basketball at all-black colleges, and helped initiate an era of integrated basketball. McLendon's well-rounded coaching background included positions at the collegiate, AAU and professional level. He coached North Carolina College, Hampton Institute, Tennessee State, Kentucky State and Cleveland State along with the Cleveland Pipers (NIB-ABL) and the Denver Rockets (ABA). His teams won a combined 523 games and McLendon himself compiled a 76 percent winning mark over his 25-year career. Named the 1958 NAIA Coach of the Year, McLendon coached teams that won eight CIAA titles between 1941 and 1952, the NIBL and AAU championships in 1961, and the ABL Eastern Division crown in 1962. McLendon, who has traveled the world promoting basketball, wrote two books, Fast Break Basketball and The Fast Break Game. McLendon, a member of the NAIA Hall of Fame has also been enshrined into the Helms Hall of Fame and the CIAA Hall of Fame. In 1992, the basketball arena at Cleveland State was named in McLendon's honor.

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