by Alan Hoskins
A coach with seven years of experience as an assistant coach at the collegiate level is the new assistant men’s basketball coach at Kansas City Kansas Community College.
A 1999 graduate of Oak Park High School, Joe McKinstry joins head coach Kelley Newton at the helm of the Blue Devil basketball program.
McKinstry comes to KCKCC from William Penn University in Oskaloosa, Iowa, where he played four years and been assistant coach the last seven years.
“Joe McKinstry’s background and experience will be a great asset in moving our program forward,” Newton said. “That experience will help me as coach and our players in becoming better players. We feel very fortunate in getting a coach with his experience.”
“I’m excited for the opportunity and happy to be here,” McKinstry said. “I know there will be a definite transition to community college and I can’t wait to get started helping build the program with Coach Newton. Being from the area and with two daughters here, I’m delighted to be back here.”
A point guard at William Penn, McKinstry finished his four years of competition as No. 5 on the all-time assist list and in the Top 10 in assists, steals and made 3-point shots. William Penn was an NCAA Division III member his first season, then moved to the NAIA Division II.
“We were 2-30 in the first year of the NAIA and by my senior year, we won 20 games for the first time in 23 years,” McKinstry said.
McKinstry became a full-time assistant after earning a degree in physical education in 2006. In his seven years as assistant, William Penn won two Midwest Collegiate Conference championships and gained the NAIA Division II national tournament four times, finishing as national runnerup in 2013 and reaching the Elite Eight this past season.
