Former national coach of the year in collegiate basketball and United States Sports Academy master’s degree holder Chad Killinger was recently hired as the ninth women’s basketball coach at Indiana State University.
An Indiana native, Killinger earned his Master of Sports Science degree in sports management from the Academy in 2003 while coaching at Jacksonville (Texas) College. Killinger, a former national coach of the year for two-year colleges, previously worked as an assistant coach at Nicholls State University, where he served as the recruiting coordinator and helped the Colonels rank in the top 50 nationally in six statistical categories.
Throughout his 25-year coaching career, Killinger has held nearly every position possible in a collegiate basketball program, from student-assistant coach, to assistant coach, to junior college head coach and now Division I head coach. He owns a 279-167 record in 14 seasons and has been part of 473 victories at the collegiate level.
“The history of basketball in Indiana is rich and includes conference championships and postseason appearances by the Sycamore women’s basketball program,” Killinger said. “My family and I look forward to returning to my home state after a 22-year journey that has given us countless memories and experiences to prepare us for this moment.”
Before joining the staff at Nicholls State, Killinger spent one season at East Carolina University as an assistant coach. Prior to East Carolina, Killinger spent seven seasons as the head women’s basketball coach at Moberly Area Community College in Missouri. Killinger had a 147-71 record at Moberly. It was the most wins and the highest winning percentage in NJCAA Region 16 during that time.
Killinger said his Indiana State team will run a fast-paced offense and play tough defense in order to compete in the Missouri Valley Conference.
“We want to play up-tempo offensively, while sharing the ball, taking quality shots, and staying under control,” he said. “But the biggest aspect of that is putting our student-athletes in a position to be successful.
“Defensively we are going to do whatever it takes to get stops, that could mean changing defenses a lot, pressing, trapping, or playing zone. Our last six seasons at Moberly we were ranked in the top seven in the country in points allowed per game three times, including leading the nation at 48 points per game during the 2018 season. We will be committed to stopping our opponents.”
In 2017-2018, Killinger guided Moberly to one of the best seasons in program history, with a 32-1 record and No. 4 ranking nationally. Killinger was named the U.S. Marine Corps/Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Two-Year College National Coach of the Year; MCCAC Coach of the Year; and NJCAA Region 16 and District K Coach of the Year.
At Moberly, Killinger coached one WBCA All-American; one second-team NJCAA All-American; one third-team NJCAA All-American; four WBCA honorable mention All-Americans; and one NJCAA honorable mention All-American.
Prior to Moberly, Killinger served as an assistant coach at Marshall University. Before that, he was head women’s basketball coach at Lincoln Trail College in Illinois. Killinger led the team to unprecedented success, with a 91-36 record and winning seasons in each of his four years. Lincoln Trail won the school’s first conference championship in 2009-10.
Prior to his time at Lincoln Trail College, Killinger served for three years as head women’s basketball coach and assistant men’s basketball coach at Jacksonville College in Texas. Before arriving at Jacksonville, Killinger served as the assistant men’s basketball coach at Lincoln Trail College for four years.
Killinger began his coaching career as a student assistant and volunteer assistant at Franklin College in Indiana. While working towards his bachelor’s degree at Franklin, Killinger also served as a coach for the Bloomington Red AAU Basketball program, which was widely considered as one of the top AAU programs in the Midwest.
Killinger earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Physical Education with an emphasis in Athletic Training from Franklin College in December of 1997.
