Weatherford (TX) head women’s basketball coach Bob McKinley led the Lady Coyotes to a 74-66 win over Paris (TX) this past Friday to claim his 1,000th win as head coach. McKinley becomes the fourth NJCAA Women’s Basketball coach to surpass 1,000 career wins and ranks third in wins among active head coaches.
McKinley has been the head coach for 46 years, and during his tenure, has been named the Northern Texas Junior College College Athletic Conference Coach of the Year 12 times and was inducted into the NJCAA Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2015. With McKinley at the helm, the Lady Coyotes have earned 16 conference championships, five regional championships, five national tournament appearances, and one NJCAA Women’s Basketball Championship semifinal appearance during the 1996-97 season. The 1996-97 season saw him reach a career-high 31 wins on the season. As of 2023, Coach McKinley has also had 20 student-athletes be named NJCAA Women’s Basketball All-America selections. McKinley took over the program following Weatherford College and NJCAA legend Betty Jo Graber’s retirement as head coach. In addition to his time as the women’s basketball head coach, McKinley coached the men’s team for 18 years and coached both the men’s and women’s teams for six seasons.
Throughout his tenure, many of McKinley’s players have gone on to make a major impact at the four-year level and beyond. Olga Firsova played for McKinley at Weatherford and later played in the WNBA for the New York Liberty and also broke the blocked shots record for Kansas State. Patty Cantella was the NAIA National Player of the Year in 2000 following her time playing for McKinley.
Before Weatherford, he coached at Pasadena High School and Houston Baptist University. McKinley has served as the Athletic Director at Weatherford College for 40 years.
Tagged with: NJCAA
