By Daily Press staff
Santa Monica College’s men’s basketball coach has retired.
John McMullen has one of the nation’s highest total number of wins. He won the last game of his career 75-71 over LA Valley College on Feb. 19. The win gave McMullen 529 total wins at SMC. Only a handful of coaches in the nation have passed 500 wins.
“All the numbers just seemed to add up,” he said. “This is my 25th year at Santa Monica College, my 40th year in coaching and I am about to turn 65.”
McMullen coached Camarillo High School for eight years, which included a state championship in 1972, after receiving his masters degree from Cal Lutheran. Before taking the head coach position at SMC, McMullen was the lead assistant for Frank Arnold at Brigham Young University. As a player, McMullen was a standout at Reseda High School where he was a member of the first graduating class. After playing at Pierce College, McMullen played three seasons at Cal State Northridge where he received his bachelors degree.
McMullen by the numbers: 25 years at SMC 40 years coaching basketball 529 wins at SMC 652 wins as a head coach.689 winning percentage at SMC.670 winning percentage career 21.2 average wins per year at SMC 19.8 average wins per year at career 127 former players that transferred to four-year colleges or universities 8 conference championships 6 state championship appearances 4 coach of the year awards
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 4, 2004. Read the original PDF.