John Harold Whisenant Jr. (born June 18, 1945) is an American former head coach for the

Sacramento Monarchs The Sacramento Monarchs were a professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. They played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) from 1997 until folding on November 20, 2009. They played their home games at ARCO Aren ...

and

New York Liberty The New York Liberty are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Liberty compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Confer ...

in the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. The league comprises 13 teams (scheduled to expand to 15 in 2026). The WNBA is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. The WNBA w ...

(WNBA).

Coaching career

After starting at Connors Junior College in

Warner, Oklahoma Warner is a town in Muskogee County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,641 at the 2010 census, an increase of 14.8 percent over the figure of 1,430 recorded in 2000. The town is home to one of the two Connors State College campuses ...

, Whisenant transferred to

New Mexico State University New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public, land-grant, research university in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1888, it is the state's oldest public institution of higher education, and was the original land-g ...

in 1963 and played two seasons, including a senior season leading the team at 13.1 points per game. Whisenant began his coaching career as an assistant coach at

Coffeyville Community College Coffeyville Community College (CCC) is a Public college, public community college located in Coffeyville, Kansas. It was founded in 1923. The official school colors are red and white. The mascot is the Red Raven. Their athletic teams are known ...

in 1966; Coffeyville went 48–10 in his two years on staff. From 1968 to 1972, Whisenant was head coach at Arizona Western Junior College and led the school to three league championships and a cumulative 97–30 record. From 1972 to 1979, Whisenant was an assistant coach at

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

under

Norm Ellenberger Norman Dale Ellenberger (August 2, 1932 – November 15, 2015) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach. He was head coach of the University of New Mexico Lobo basketball team from 1972 to 1979, winning Western Athlet ...

and helped New Mexico accumulate a record of 137–62 and two WAC championships. Whisenant began a business career focusing on real estate and horse racing after leaving the New Mexico coaching staff. He also coached his son's AAU team in Albuquerque and had a cumulative 176–16 record. From 1999 to 2001, Whisenant was head coach and vice president of basketball operations for the New Mexico Slam of the

International Basketball League The International Basketball League (IBL) was a semi-professional men's basketball league featuring teams from the West Coast of the United States. In 2010 the Albany Legends became the first team in the Northeastern United States to join. The ...

. The Slam went 51–35 in its two seasons of existence, including 38–26 in 1999–2000. After his stint with the Monarchs, Whisenant was coach and GM for the New York Liberty. On October 25, 2012, the Liberty announced that Whisenant would be leaving the team. Outside of coaching, Whisenant is a partner in a commercial real estate firm in

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whisenant, John 1945 births American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players American women's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Oklahoma Basketball players from Oklahoma Coffeyville Red Ravens men's basketball players Connors State Cowboys basketball players Junior college men's basketball coaches in the United States Living people New Mexico Lobos men's basketball coaches New Mexico State Aggies men's basketball players New York Liberty head coaches People from Gore, Oklahoma Pittsburg State University alumni Sacramento Monarchs coaches Women's National Basketball Association championship–winning head coaches Women's National Basketball Association executives Women's National Basketball Association general managers 20th-century American sportsmen