He was a major contributor to the development of modern basketball and coached on both the college and professional levels during his career.
[2] However, McLendon was not permitted to actually play college basketball, as the KU varsity team was segregated and would not suit up its first black player until 1951.
However, while coaching at North Carolina College for Negroes, McLendon participated in "The Secret Game", a match against a team from Duke University, which was the first collegiate basketball contest where blacks and whites competed on the same floor.
Cleveland Pipers General Manager Mike Cleary hired him in 1962 to be the head coach of the American Basketball League team which was owned by George Steinbrenner.
McLendon's hiring made history, as he became the first African American head coach in professional sports.
McLendon's contributions to the game of basketball include the invention of the fast break,[12] full-court press and four corners offense.
[15] He was also inducted into the Cleveland State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2007, where his wife Joanna accepted the award on his behalf.
McLendon's coaching legacy is also chronicled in the documentary Black Magic, which originally aired as a two-part series on ESPN in March 2008.
Beginning in 2016, a first-round game in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament involving an HBCU team would be known as the Coach John Mclendon Classic.
[18] Beginning in 2023, an annual College Basketball game will be hosted by Kansas to support the John McClendon Initiative.