After 37 years as the Kirkwood Community College women’s basketball coach, Kim Muhl has announced his retirement, closing a career that began long before he became an Eagle.
Before Kirkwood
In 2007, “The Final Season”, a movie about the Norway high school baseball team, was released to theaters. That Norway baseball team won 20 state championships in just 26 seasons, making it the most successful baseball team to come out of Iowa high school sports.
The movie follows two coaches closely, Jim Van Scoyoc and Kent Stock, who both went on to have professional careers within the baseball world. However, in that 26-season span there was a third coach that was never mentioned in the movie.
Muhl took over as head coach for the Norway baseball team in 1988 after Van Scoyoc left to become a professional scout. Muhl beat out over 70 candidates.
After only one season with Norway as both the baseball and girls basketball coach, winning became a standard. Not just a standard, but also a precedent for what would soon to be.
After the season ended Muhl was not guaranteed a job at Norway. However, he had a job offer to coach women’s basketball at Kirkwood Community College.
The beginning
“I didn’t have any plan, I just wanted to have a job,” said Muhl when reflecting on his decision to sign a contract with Kirkwood back in 1989.
Muhl’s first team with Kirkwood was built around players who he did not recruit. On top of that, he only had eight players on his roster. Given those two facts, there was little to no expectations for the Eagles basketball team with their new coach.
“They were just happy to play,” said Muhl.
The season started, and wins started to rack up. Game after game and victory after victory, the Eagles eventually saw themselves in the Region XI championship game. A victory here would send the women’s basketball team to the national championship for the first time ever. So what did that Muhl-led basketball team do?
They went on to beat Waldorf by 13 points; they were off to their first ever national tournament.
“We felt like we were in the movie “Hoosiers”, a small-town team stepping onto a big stage,” said Tamara Beebe, Kansas City, who played center for the 1989-90 Eagles team.
After a long drive to Tyler, Texas (where Muhl drove the entire team) the Eagles were set to make their’s and Muhl’s first national championship appearance.
Unfortunately, the Eagles were spoiled of a fairytale ending with a lackluster loss in the first round. Though making the national tournament was a huge accomplishment, nonetheless.
“People should have known he was going to be a great coach when he took eight girls he didn’t recruit and got us to nationals,” said Renee Meyer, Wilton, who played power forward on the 1989-90 team.
Kim Muhl would then go on to lead Kirkwood to 23 other national tournament appearances across a historic 37-year career.
More than a record
When looking at a coach with a 1,108-178 record with nine national championships it is easy to just assume greatness. However, said greatness occurred behind the scenes. During the long off season or the hard practices players were fortunate to see the greatness with their own eyes.
“It’s never been about the glitz and the glamour,” said Muhl. “It’s about getting kids better and getting them to the next level.”
Former Eagles guard and current University of Northern Iowa standout Jenna Twedt said coach Muhl helped her fall in love with the game again during her two years at Kirkwood. She said she felt burnt out and that Muhl helped guide her back into the game.
“He just helped me mature as a person overall,” said Twedt.
Following her tenure at Kirkwood, she has excelled at Northern Iowa and led the Panthers in scoring with 14.7 points per game. Where that revitalized love for the game of basketball helped her carve out a strong career at the Division-I level.
“Coach Kim is one of the main reasons why I thrive as a player and person today,” said former Eagle and current University of Toledo forward Elizabeth Puot. “He expanded my game to make me a more versatile threat, but most importantly, he taught me life skills during my time at Kirkwood that I will carry long after my career ends.”
Angie McCormick, Palo, played shooting guard for Kirkwood and was a key piece to the 1997 National Championship team, Kirkwood’s first in school history. McCormick shared a story about Muhl, and if there is one story that captures Muhl’s approach to coaching it is this:
“Between my freshman and sophomore year (Muhl) told me I needed to get better at my ball-handling skills in the full court setting. When I asked him how, he said the best way was to play one-on-one full court. So that summer I came up from Iowa City at least once a week and he and I would go up and down playing one-on-one full court for an hour or more. This was back in the days when the gym was non-air conditioned. It was hot and very hard. Coach never let anyone win anything.”
This precise and hands-on approach to coaching became a staple for the pedigree Muhl brought amongst himself as a coach.
McCormick continued her basketball career and went on to play Division I basketball at Stetson University.
“He would push you to your limits, knowing that each of us was capable of achieving,” said Becky Dye-Parker, Kansas City, who played guard for Muhl’s first Kirkwood team.
Sophomore guard Kennedy Blakley, who just finished her final season with the Eagles, shared a similar story. She described how Muhl helped her fall back in love with the game of basketball and taught her accountability and maturity, highlighting the principles and standards he set for players to be successful.
Players from the 1989-90 roster Lori Oujiri, shooting guard, and Sara Benson, forward both gave high praise to Muhl and shared their pride in being the first team to be coached by somebody so historic.
“It’s about them. It’s not about you,” Muhl stated about himself while reflecting on all of his former teams.
Impact on Kirkwood
Winning over 1,000 basketball games takes an extremely long time to accomplish. However, coworkers, coaches and faculty who have had front row seats for years share an interesting perspective.
Athletic director and head baseball coach Todd Rima said Muhl made his transition into the role easier by knowing he had a women’s basketball coach who had won more games than anybody else in his corner.
But Rima said the best part of his experience working with Muhl has been his willingness to be a team player, listening to new ideas, working with everybody in the athletic department, and being supportive.
Brittany West finished up her third season as assistant coach to Muhl before he announced his retirement, and she was fortunate enough to have faced him and the Eagles as a competitor.
“Coach was always very humble. When they won, they weren’t cocky or in your face like some other teams,” West said. “As a player, I didn’t understand the dynasty that Kirkwood women’s basketball team had until I got my butt kicked by them.”
Doug Wagemester, former Kirkwood athletic director, said that set the bar for his entire tenure as an Eagle. “I don’t care who you are or what you do,” he said. “If you’ve done it well for 37 years, that’s quite an accomplishment.”
He continued, “I don’t think there’ll be another one like him. Certainly not in my lifetime. People don’t stay in one place that long, and they’re either on the move or they’re asked to move. It’ll be a long time before somebody has that kind of tenure and that type of success.”
Jen Francescon, assistant coach to Muhl for 17 seasons, has seen a completely different side of Muhl.
“A lot of people perceive him as very intimidating and unapproachable, but outside of basketball he is a kid at heart,” she said. “He is very humble and grateful for all of his achievements, but they have never changed his approach of getting players better and helping them move on to the next level.”
Kirkwood president Kristie Fisher said that Muhl’s legacy at the college is best defined by excellence. “He’s built a program that inspires and demands excellence,” she said.
She described Muhl as a part of the fabric of Kirkwood, part of the campus experience. She said he’s had a strong impact on not just the players who have played for him, but head coaches, assistant coaches, staff and athletes in other sports as well.
Fisher said she believes Muhl could have retired 10 years ago, but his love for the game of basketball and working with young players, helping them grow and become better people and players, kept him around.
Associate athletic director Lynn Lueck is one of those people Muhl impacted. He was on the hiring committee that hired Lueck 14 years ago, and she has gone from seeing him as an intimidating figure to a friend.
“He’s just meant the world to us,” she said. “He’s Mr. Kirkwood.”
37 years ago, Muhl took on a coaching position at Kirkwood looking for stability. Thirty-seven years later he is walking away with much more than that: an immensely successful basketball program, a staple for what leading a team should look like and hundreds of former and current athletes impacted positively by his leadership.
Muhl’s influence will forever be enshrined in Kirkwood’s history.”
While Coach Muhl himself may have come to Kirkwood seeking a stable job, he has meant far more than that to the college.
Categories: Basketball, Sports
