‘Unparalleled’ tradition attracted Clint Kinnamon to fill McPherson girls basketball job
As if the Roundhouse wasn’t already intimidating enough, opponents will now have to take on two members of the Kinnamon family to beat McPherson in basketball.
McPherson announced Clint Kinnamon as its new high school girls basketball head coach on Tuesday, joining the same school where his older brother, Kurt, has won seven state championships in 29 years as the boys head coach.
Clint, who brings four state championships of his own, said the family reunion is a bonus, but the real draw was taking over a program with the prestige of McPherson.
“The tradition of McPherson basketball, whether it’s on the boys or girls side, is unparalleled,” Clint Kinnamon said. “I’m following two tremendous coaches in Scott Schaefer and Chris Strathman. Chris has left the program in a really good spot, so this is a really great opportunity for me as a coach.”
Strathman resigned three weeks ago following the 2023-24 season after 29 years in the program, in which the Bullpups qualified for the state tournament 27 times and won seven state championships.
As a head coach, Strathman won 83% of his games (380-76) and 17 consecutive league championships — a streak that began in 2008 and is still active — qualified for state in 17 of 19 seasons, reached the state finals seven times and won state titles in 2008, 2012 and 2018. He also coached some of the best girls players to come through Kansas, including Taylor Robertson, Ashley Sweat and Katelyn Loecker.
More importantly, at least to Kinnamon, was the integrity in which he led the program.
“I’ve been able to watch the Mac girls play over the years when I go and watch my brother’s games and I’ve always thought that Chris won the right way,” Kinnamon said. “It’s always tough to step into somebody else’s shoes who has a proven track record of winning like that, but the program is in great shape. We have a lot of really talented players coming back and coming up.”
Kinnamon brings his own track record of success with 32 years of head coaching experience and his own place in Kansas history as an all-time great.
He is one of the select few coaches in state history with four state championships, while his teams at St. John hold the state record for consecutive wins with 63 straight from 2013-15. He’s been named the Coach of the Year in Kansas three times (2014, 2015 and 2020) and he’s coached two all-time great players in Jackie Stiles (at Claflin) and Dean Wade (at St. John). Stiles went on to become a women’s basketball legend, while Wade had a successful college career at Kansas State and currently plays in the NBA for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Kinnamon hasn’t coached high school girls basketball for nearly three decades since leaving Claflin. He has since coached the boys programs at Arkansas City, St. John, Wichita East and most recently Remington, compiling 520 career victories as a head coach.
He said he is looking forward to the challenge of taking over a historic program coming off a 20-win season and third-place finish at the Class 4A state tournament.
“I actually coached girls when I first got into coaching and those are some of my favorite memories that I’ll have forever,” Kinnamon said. “It wasn’t just about Jackie, it was about those teams. For me as a coach, I’ve always measured success as, ‘Do those kids come back to see you? And how are they in their lives after they graduate?’ And I’m still in contact with a lot of those kids off those teams.”
