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William Jewell College Athletics

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Chris McCabe 23-24

Chris McCabe

  • Title
    Vice President for Athletics/Head Men's Basketball Coach
  • Email
    mccabec@william.jewell.edu
  • Phone
    816-415-5947
  • Alma Mater
    Kansas State / Northwest Missouri
  • Year Started
    2019
Chris McCabe enters his seventh season with the Jewell men's basketball program in 2025-2026 and moved into the Athletics leadership role on August 1, 2023. 


Key Dates
• April 29, 2019 | Named Head Men's Basketball Coach 
• November 8, 2019 | First Collegiate Win vs. Purdue Northwest (98-77)
• January 4, 2020 | First GLVC Win vs. Quincy (86-74)
• February 6, 2020 | Defeated No. 12 Bellarmine (70-69, OT)
• November 17, 2021 | Defeated No. 11 Washburn (56-52)
• August 1, 2023 | Named Interim Athletics Director
• March 9, 2024 | Defeated No. 21 UIndy (71-65, OT)
• March 10, 2024 | Won 2024 GLVC Championship 
• April 15, 2024 | Named Associate VP for Athletics Strategy & External Relations
• February 13, 2025 | Defeated No. 9 Missouri S&T (85-80 OT)
• August 1, 2025 | Elevated to Vice President for Athletics
• February 14, 2026 | Defeated No. 24 Missouri S&T (78-76)
• March 8, 2026 | Won 2026 GLVC Championship (vs. Drury) & 100 Career Win


Jewell Highlights
• Built the men's basketball program into one of the top-3 winningest in the GLVC, winning 63 games over the last three seasons 
• Has led Jewell to two GLVC Championships in the last three seasons and most recently a 22-10 overall mark and 15-5 in GLVC play, both highs since joining the league (2011-12)
• Guided the Cardinals to a 21-11 record and the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2024
• Owns an 8-2 mark in the GLVC Tournament and has six straight 
• Has mentored seven players to 13 GLVC postseason honors, including three-time First Teamer Jordan Jermain
• Got the Cardinals back to the GLVC Tournament for first time in four years in 2022 with the first NCAA era postseason win over Lindenwood followed by an upset of top seed Southwest Baptist
• Lead the program to three consecutive 15-plus win seasons for the first time since 2009-11 with a career best 22 in 2025-26
• Has 10 wins over teams receiving votes in the national polls in past four seasons, including five top-25 upsets
• The Cardinals appeared in the national polls twice the first time since 2018 in 2023 and have been featured five times since
• Has paced a refocused recruiting effort on the Kansas City area, with more than 64% of players recruited under McCabe coming from the Kansas City metro and surrounding area high schools 
• Has boasted 50 Academic All-Conference honorees including the league's highest team GPA in men's basketball in in back-to-back seasons
• Team won four straight GLVC Sportsmanship Awards from 2021-2025, an honor selected by league head coaches
• Served a two-year term as William Jewell's Staff Council Chair and was a 2024 nominee for the College's Staff Member of the Year award


Prior to Jewell
• Came from nearby Liberty North High School where he started the program and spent nine seasons as the head coach
• Led his team to an overall record of 158-94 and eight district final appearances in nine seasons
• Took Liberty North from 8-19 in his first season to back-to-back appearances in the Missouri Class 4 Final Four in just three years
• Made five consecutive district championship appearances from 2012-2016, which also included three Class 4 Elite Eight appearances
• Sent 12 athletes  on to play or manage college basketball at the college level, with numerous other athletes pursuing other sports
• Coached the Cardinals Robbie Hanson and Macaleb Hughes at the high school level
• His players were been recognized with 19 All-Conference selections & four All-State honors
• Was the assistant under Roger Stirtz at Liberty High School, helping the Blue Jays to three conference championships while winning more than 75 percent of games
• Got his start at Johnson County Community College as a student assistant
• Spent undergraduate years at Kansas State University under coach Jim Wooldridge, assisting closely with scouting and film, preseason workouts, and camps


Personal
• Earned his undergraduate degree in social science at Kansas State and a master’s in educational administration from Northwest Missouri State
• Married to wife Melynda and is the proud father of one daughter, Ellyanna


McCabe Year-by-Year
Season Overall Record GLVC Notes
2019-20 10-18 5-15
2020-21 5-16 5-16
2021-22 15-15 9-10 GLVC Tournament
2022-23 15-14 12-8 GLVC Tournament
2023-24 21-11 12-8 GLVC Champions, NCAA Tournament 
2024-25 12-16 9-11
2025-26 22-9 15-5 GLVC Champions, NCAA Tournament
Total 100-100 66-73
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