Horizon League Announces Coach John McLendon Celebration Feb. 1-4

January 24

INDIANAPOLIS (January 24, 2024) – The Horizon League announced on Wednesday that the fourth edition of the Coach John McLendon Celebration will take place Thursday, February 1 through Sunday, February 4. The initiative, which highlights the major impact of Coach McLendon, will be held in conjunction with the Youngstown State at Wright State men’s basketball game scheduled to be televised at 9 p.m. ET on ESPNU on Thursday, Feb.1, with additional coverage on all of the League’s ESPN+ broadcasts during that timeframe.

Why this matters: The Horizon League has honored former Cleveland State University head men's basketball coach John McLendon each of the past three seasons. McLendon was hired by Cleveland State in 1966, becoming the first African American head coach at a predominately white institution. He led the Vikings for three seasons. In January 2021, McLendon was posthumously selected as the Theodore Roosevelt Award honoree, the highest distinction of NCAA awards. The award is named after former President Theodore Roosevelt, whose concern for the conduct of intercollegiate athletics led to the establishment of the NCAA in 1906.

Major Voice
Horizon League Commissioner Julie Roe Lach
“We are proud to continue to honor Coach John McLendon’s legacy with this annual celebration which was launched by our #OneHL student-athlete group. Our 11 institutions have embraced the amplification of Coach McLendon’s impact speaking to the #OurHorizon mantra and the unifying qualities of college sports.”

Dig deeper:
-McLendon is a two-time inductee into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor and later as a coach. He attended the University of Kansas where he learned under the legendary Dr. James Naismith. McLendon has been recognized due to his lifetime of work pioneering and innovating college basketball.

-Coach McLendon was responsible for the integration of college hoops, as he orchestrated “The Secret Game” formally known as the first racially integrated basketball competition in 1944. March 12, 2024 marks the 80^th anniversary of ‘The Secret Game’, and the Horizon League will celebrate this prestigious day in civil rights history March 11-12 in Indianapolis at the 2024 Barbasol Horizon League Basketball Championships.

-John McLendon was a forerunner of diversity, equity, and inclusion beyond the realm of college athletics. He inspired his successors to continue his legacy through the McLendon Minority Leadership Initiative (MLI), whose stated goal is to provide minorities a jump-start to their careers through practical experiences, opportunities to build their network, and instilling the values of John McLendon: Integrity, Education, Leadership, and Mentorship. The Horizon League has been a proud participant of the MLI for the past two years.

-Prior to his time at Cleveland State, McLendon was named the head coach of Cleveland's professional basketball team, the Cleveland Pipers of the National Industrial Basketball League (NIBL) in 1959, making him the first African American head coach in the modern era of professional sports.

-There are many terrific video and text resources which tell the story of John McLendon. Below, you can find a selection of those resources:

For complete coverage of the Coach John McLendon Celebration visit HorizonLeague.com, follow @HorizonLeague, the hashtags #OurHorizon and #OneHL on social media and tune into all the action on ESPNU and ESPN+.