Pat Summit. Mike Krzyzewski. Jim Boheim. All names you think of when you think of legendary college basketball coaches. There is one name that deserves to be added to that list – Kirkwood Community College’s Women’s Basketball Head Coach Kim Muhl.
In the cold month of February, the Kirkwood Eagles traveled to Ellsworth Community College for a conference matchup. What ensued was a 98-32 Eagles thrashing, and Muhl’s 1,000th win.
Reaching 1,000 wins is a feat few coaches reach in the sport of basketball. At all collegiate levels, only a handful have reached 1,000. For coach Muhl, it was simply a matter of business.
“Didn’t do much,” Muhl said when asked how he celebrated this milestone. “When it hits, you just kind of move forward because you have another game coming. We were getting towards the end of our season, went through some injuries, we were just trying to ride the ship until everyone got healthy.”
When asked what brought him here Muhl stated, “Originally, just get a job … The high school I was at was going to consolidate, so long story short the job opened, they called me about it and I took it in 1989.” The rest is history. “There were some times to move on,” Muhl said about whether he ever thought to move on to a different school. “They weren’t good times in my life at that point in time, so I just stayed here.”
In 34 years of coaching, more than 1,000 wins, and 8 national championships later, not much has changed for Muhl.
Additions of the three point line and the shot clock have changed the game, obviously but the big changes at the higher levels of college basketball haven’t affected how Muhl runs his program.
Name, image, and likeness rules and the opening up of the transfer portal have revolutionized the game of basketball at the division 1 level. “It hasn’t changed much for me,” Muhl stated. Kirkwood’s recruiting bases have stayed mostly the same through all this. They are still recruiting the same types of athletes they always have, said Muhl.
Muhl has dedicated three decades of work and has stayed the course at Kirkwood. 1,000 wins might seem unachievable but Coach Muhl will no doubt continue to add to that count.
Coach Muhl’s Stats
- 34 seasons at Kirkwood
- Overall Record: 1,000 – 168
- Eight NJCAA Division II national titles
- Named Region XI Coach of the Year 20 times (1990, ‘95, ‘97, ‘98, ‘99, 2002-’10, ‘12, ‘17, ‘18, ‘21 and 2022)
Staff Writer
Max is a staff writer majoring in the Digital Arts Program. He also serves as a producer in Kirkwood Student Productions and plans to work in the video industry after college.
Categories: Basketball, Sports
