After stops at four Kansas high schools, basketball coach John McFall retires

John McFall turned down his first basketball head coaching offer in the late 1970s. For the next few days, months — perhaps even years — he says he wondered if another opportunity would ever come along.

More than a few did.

Making stops at four area schools, McFall accumulated 530 head coaching victories over a 33-year career that came to a close this season.

McFall announced his retirement after his sixth year with the Mill Valley girls basketball program.

His career was highlighted by two state championships with the Olathe South boys (1997 and 2004), each of which featured one of his sons on the team.

“I tried to never put pressure on my teams to win. We hardly ever talked about winning state championships, “McFall said. “We just talked about doing things that would put ourselves in a position to be successful.”

After 12 years as an assistant coach, McFall opened his head coaching career with the boys program at Shawnee Mission North in 1980 before stints with Shawnee Mission West and Olathe South. After a two-year hiatus, he took his first girls coaching job at Mill Valley in 2010.

During a 33-year career, McFall compiled a 530-209 record and took all four programs to the Kansas state tournament. Seven reached the state championship game. He is a member of three hall of fame groups — the Fort Scott Community College Athletic Hall of Fame, the Greater Kansas City Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

This story was originally published April 4, 2016 at 5:46 PM with the headline "After stops at four Kansas high schools, basketball coach John McFall retires."