June 8, 2006
Contact: Brian McCann
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Cleveland State John McLendon Scholarship Series, an annual men's basketball game hosted by CSU in conjunction with the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), will debut in 2007 and benefit several scholarships in the name of John and Joanna McLendon.
CSU Director of Athletics Lee Reed made the announcement at a press conference at the Marriott Key Center on Thursday.
The inaugural series event will take place on Tuesday, December 18, 2007 when Cleveland State hosts Ohio State in Quicken Loans Arena. Kansas State will participate in the 2008 contest and negotiations are ongoing for teams to play in subsequent years.
Proceeds from the event will help to endow an athletic scholarship in the name of John and Joanna McLendon at Cleveland State. Additional revenue will be donated to NACDA's John McLendon Memorial Minority Postgraduate Scholarship fund, which annually presents scholarships to senior-level minority students who intend to pursue a graduate degree in athletics administration.
"Cleveland State made history in 1966 when it became the first major basketball school to hire an African-American head coach in basketball," Reed said. "Forty years later, I am proud that we are able to honor the memory of Coach McLendon with the creation of the CSU McLendon Scholarship Series."
"NACDA championed the legacy of John McLendon with the formation of the McLendon postgraduate scholarship program in 1999 and we are honored to be involved with the CSU McLendon Scholarship Series," NACDA Executive Director Mike Cleary said.
John McLendon, who was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1979, became the first black coach to head a major college basketball program at an integrated school when he took over as head coach of the Vikings in 1966.
One of the leading proponents of fastbreak basketball, McLendon learned the basketball from its inventor, Dr. James Naismith, as a student at Kansas in the 1930s.
McLendon coached three seasons at CSU, ending his career with a 523-165 collegiate record. He left CSU in 1969, returning in 1991 to serve as an athletic department advisor until his death in 1999.
