Former Oak Park standout Joe McKinstry gets a national title in first season as a head basketball coach

Two years ago, Joe McKinstry left coaching.

Today, he’s a national champion head coach.

McKinstry, a 1999 graduate of Oak Park High School, recently led the Kansas City Kansas Community College women’s basketball team to the NJCAA Division II national title in his first year as a head coach.

“It’s been pretty surreal,” McKinstry said. “It still hasn’t sunk in yet. I was fortunate to be part of a runner-up team as an assistant coach, but this is at a whole another level. I think I’ve received a text or phone call from everyone I’ve ever known.”

In April of 2014, McKinstry’s future plans did not include coaching.

Following eight years as an assistant at William Penn University in Oskaloosa, Iowa, McKinstry made the tough decision to be done with coaching. At least he thought that at the time.

With two young daughters in the Kansas City area starting to grow up and take part in activities, he didn’t want to miss out on their lives.

“I loved every moment of my time at William Penn,” said McKinstry, who played at the NAIA school after a standout high school career. “But it was hard not to be around my daughters. I was going to get out of coaching to be closer to family.”

With a master’s degree in tow, McKinstry moved back to the Kansas City area and started looking for jobs in the business world. Following a few frustrating months of job searching, he unexpectedly came across an ad for an assistant coaching position in the KCK men’s program. He interviewed for the job, received it and helped the Blue Devils men go 23-9.

Over the summer, the KCK women’s head coach took a position at another school, and McKinstry jumped at the opportunity.

“My pitch was I know these players. I’ve been around them and seen them play,” he said. “I think that was a big help knowing them. I’m thankful for the opportunity I received.”

There were some adjustments for McKinstry and his players. While familiar with each other from the previous year, they were now in different roles.

“Being their coach is different than seeing them on campus and on road trips,” McKinstry said. “So it took some time figure that out. I knew what they could do as basketball players on the court and what they were good at. I had my own thoughts on what they could do.”

Once the season started, the coaching transition seemed to be a smooth one for both parties. McKinstry led KCK to a 16-0 start and a 26-3 regular season, two of those losses coming to defending national champion Johnson County.

In the regional tournament final, McKinstry and the Blue Devils handed Johnson County its first loss of the season and reached the national tournament for the second time in school history.

Though entering the national tournament with four wins over teams ranked in the top 10, McKinstry said the other teams didn’t look at KCK as a serious contender for the national title.

“I felt that people treated us like we were a .500 team that just had some March Madness and got to the national tournament,” he said. “I felt teams kind of discredited what we had done over the course of the season.”

McKinstry used that as motivation for his team, and it showed. The Blue Devils won four games in four days by an average of 19 points.

“We had a group of players that really bought in to what we were trying to do,” McKinstry said. “Our players just stayed together, persevered and continued to work.”

Few coaches win national championships, and even fewer do it in their first season. McKinstry could walk away going one for one in national titles with a 33-3 career record, but he knows the coaching profession is where he belongs.

“I joked with my athletic director that I was going to put in my resignation because this will be hard to top,” McKinstry said. “It’s been a special season. I know how hard it is to win a national title. I know what an achievement it is. I’m just thankful that our girls were able to do what they did.”

This story was originally published March 28, 2016 at 2:15 PM with the headline "Former Oak Park standout Joe McKinstry gets a national title in first season as a head basketball coach."