Skip to content

Biography · Sports & Achievement

John McLendon

1915–1999

United States

BIOGRAPHYPortrait not availableExplore the life, work and source references.
Visit the source record ↗

Biography

John B. McLendon Jr. (April 5, 1915 – October 8, 1999) was an American basketball coach who is recognized as the first African American basketball coach at a predominantly white university and the first African American head coach in any professional sport. He was a major contributor to the development of modern basketball and coached on both the college and professional levels during his career. He has been enshrined three times in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and also inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.

Sources & collection details

Wikipedia contributors — original record ↗

Black heritage reference ↗

Biography text · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source checked 2026-10-20

Continue exploring Series 1

Sports & Achievement →Education & Ideas →

Explore all Series 1 cards →