Bio

Coach Sam Kohnke is in his fourth season in charge of the Mustangs in 2024-25. He became the head coach in August of 2021.

2023-24 was a historic season for the Mustangs as they finished 28-7 overall and 12-2 in the American Midwest Conference. CBC won both the AMC regular season and conference tournament championships and made a run all the way to the NAIA National Quarterfinals where they lost to the eventual national champions, Freed-Hardeman. He was named AMC Coach of the Year and was the recipient of the Raymond Bright Award for the best college head coach in the city of Conway. Deshawn Corprew earned NAIA Third-Team All-America honors as well as being selected to the AMC's first team while Sage Borbon earned AMC Tournament MVP and was named to the second team, Jonas Carlisle earned third-team honors and was selected to the all-tournament team, Kyle Harding was named the inaugural AMC Sixth Man of the Year while earning third-team honors with Devin Foster earning all-defensive team recognition, SaVaughn Smith earning a spot on the all-freshman team and Wade Williams earning a spot on the All-Tournament team as well. Six players earned All-Academic team recognition as well.

Kohnke led the Mustangs to a 21-10 record with an 11-5 record in the American Midwest Conference and an appearance in the AMC Tournament Championship Game. CBC got to the AMC semifinals for the sixth straight season, the active leader in the conference, while also watching Jalen Adams became the sixth 1,000-point scorer in program history. Kohnke coached six all-conference selections and had three players selected to the all-conference team. TaJuan Johnson and Braylon Steen also earned AMC All-Tournament team honors.

In his debut season in 2021-22, CBC finished fourth in the conference with a 15-15 record and 10-6 in the AMC. Kohnke earned his first career coaching victory against Bacone on Nov. 16 and coached four All-AMC players, including AMC Player of the Year and NAIA honorable mention All-American Kelvin Robinson. Additionally, three players made the AMC Academic All-Conference team as well.

Prior to becoming head coach, Kohnke served as a Graduate Assistant at North Texas from June to August of 2021. He worked under Grant McCasland for the Mean Green Eagles. Before going to North Texas, he served for one season as the assistant coach for CBC, helping the team to a 19-7 regular season record and an American Midwest Conference Championship by a record 35 points over Columbia College in the championship game. The team also qualified for the NAIA National Tournament for the fourth time in program history. He helped coach a pair of NAIA All-Americans (Tedrick Wolfe and Kelvin Robinson) and four payers total on the All-AMC team (Wolfe, Robinson, Zach Hudson and Brevin Brimble).

Prior to his arrival at CBC, Kohnke spent the summer as the interim head coach of his alma mater, Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss. He was associate head coach prior to his interim stint and helped the Majors win 17 games and record their first winning season in 12 years. He coached five All-Southern Athletic Association selections including the defensive player of the year in 2020. During the 2018-19 season, he coached eight All-SAA Academic Team selections and organized a team trip to Costa Rica.

Prior to his arrival at Millsaps, he worked as a volunteer assistant coach at Tulane University under former NBA head coach Mike Dunleavy. Kohnke earned his bachelor's degree in philosophy from Millsaps in 2018 and played basketball at both Millsaps and Loyola New Orleans.

THE KOHNKE FILE

2023-24 AMC Coach of the Year

2023-24 AMC Regular Season Champion

2023-24 AMC Tournament Champion

2023-24 NAIA First-Second Round Champion (Olathe, Kan.)

2023-24 NAIA National Quarterfinals

Program Record 28 wins in 2023-24

RECORDS

2021-22                     15-15          10-6 AMC

2022-23                     21-10          11-5

2023-24                     28-7            12-2 (AMC Tournament Champion, Olathe Regional Champion, NAIA National Quarterfinals)

2024-25                     0-0               0-0