Wichita State Athletics

Kennedy, 58, has taken part of close to 600 wins, helped by a 361-294 mark as head coach. 

He's won conference coach of the year awards across three different leagues -- the Southland (2004), Ohio Valley (2010 & 2011) and SEC (2016) -- and has coached three different programs to the NCAA tournament, highlighted by a pair of Sweet 16 seasons in College Station (2016 and 2018).

In 2005, Kennedy led Southeastern Louisiana to its first-ever NCAA appearance and a school-record 24 wins. Likewise, he took Murray State to new heights in 2010 with a school-record 31 wins and notched the Racers’ first NCAA victory in 22 years with an upset of No. 4 Vanderbilt.

Texas A&M's 2016 Sweet 16 was made possible by perhaps the great comeback in NCAA tournament history. Kennedy's Aggies trailed Round-of-32 opponent Northern Iowa by 12 points with 42 seconds left in regulation but rallied to win the game in double-overtime.

Before his first head coaching job at Centenary, the Metairie, La., native spent 11 seasons as an assistant coach at seven Division I schools, including Texas A&M for the 1990-91 season. Brown was his starting point guard that year. Other stops include New Orleans (1986-87), Wyoming (1987-88), Northwestern State (1988-89), Tulane (1989-90), Creighton (1991-93) and California (1993-97).
 
Kennedy has been a part of six NCAA tournament squads as an assistant coach. He helped Cal to three trips in four years, culminating in a 1997 Sweet 16 run, and has also danced with New Orleans (1987), Wyoming (1988) and Wichita State (2021).
 
As an assistant at Cal, Kennedy signed and coached future NBA All-Star Shareef Abdur-Rahim and NFL Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez. The Bears’ 1993-94 team was led by another future NBA great, Jason Kidd.
 
Kennedy has a long history of success on the recruiting trail. At Texas A&M he signed 10 ESPN top-100 players, including four in his 2015 class, which ranked as high as No. 6 nationally.
 
Under Kennedy’s watch, Robert Williams was a two-time SEC defensive player of the year and selected No. 27 overall by the Boston Celtics in the 2018 NBA Draft.
 
Kennedy’s first Texas A&M squad was led by Khris Middleton, a two-time NBA All-Star who currently plays for the Milwaukee Bucks.
 
At Murray State, Kennedy signed two-time OVC Player of the Year and No. 34 overall pick, Isaiah Canaan.
 
Kennedy received his Bachelor of Arts degree in social studies education from Southeastern Louisiana University in 1986.
 
A class act off the court, as well, Kennedy was presented with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes’ 2011 John Lotz “Barnabas” Award at the Final Four in Houston. The award is presented by the FCA to a basketball coach who best exhibits a commitment to Christ, integrity, encouragement to others and living a balanced life.

Kennedy is married to the former Mary Ethredge. In 2021, the couple were co-winners of the Athletes in Action Coach John Wooden Keys to Life Award, which honors integrity in the game of basketball. He has four children: Will, Lexie, Brooks and Anna Cate.
 

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