McConkey elevated to lead assistant coach at Doane
JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
Northwest Missouri State’s Mallory McConkey shoots a fadeaway jumper in 2022 against Lincoln in Bearcat Arena.
CRETE, Neb. — Teaching has always been a passion for Mallory McConkey. Her mom Julie McConkey taught for 32 years, her brother Michael McConkey is the history teacher at North Nodaway and Mallory McConkey spent a majority of her time playing basketball at Northwest Missouri State thinking that was what she wanted to do.
Things work out in mysterious ways however. The South Nodaway graduate was given an extra year of eligibility at Northwest following the COVID-19 pandemic and coach Austin Meyer kept McConkey and Kylie Coleman as senior leaders for an extremely young Bearcat team.
The team had 13 players who were either freshmen or redshirt freshmen. That true freshmen class would end up being the core of the team that got the Bearcats back into the NCAA Tournament this year with players like Molly Hartnett, Lindsey Kelderman, Peyton Kelderman, Kelsey Fields, Evelyn Vazquez, Caely Kesten and Laini Joseph among the group.
“Whenever I was going into my fifth year at Northwest, I was set on becoming a PE teacher and high school coach, but then we had the eight incoming freshmen,” McConkey said. “Trying to help them with all the different things that go into basketball — I was thinking that I really just wanted to be a coach full time at the college level.”
That desire to coach took her to NAIA Doane University as a graduate assistant where Bearcat legend Gene Steinmeyer was an assistant coach for Ryan Baumgartner.
“Stein has tons of stories all the time about this person and that person,” McConkey said. “It has been a super enjoyable last two years with both of them.”
Steinmeyer also shares the passion for teaching, but the Doane Hall of Famer and Elite Eight coach at Northwest has turned that passion to mentoring young coaches. He had helped head coach Ryan Baumgartner elevate the program in recent years.
Baumgartner took over a 2-win team midway through the 2019-2020 season. He led them to five wins the next season, then 12, then 14 in McConkey’s first season on staff, then 16 this past season.
“I came into Northwest and I think we won five games my freshman year,” McConkey said. “It is just kinda cool to be a part of a rebuild again, even through Ryan already got the ball rolling with Doane.”
While Steinmeyer has seen and coached more basketball than most, McConkey appreciates the way he empowered her as a graduate assistant. The last two seasons, McConkey has been the head coach for the junior varsity program.
“Stein always pointed out that ‘you are my equal, we are both assistant coaches, both of our opinions matter,’” McConkey said. “Ryan is really big on that too.”
This season, Steinmeyer will step back into a part-time assistant coaching role and McConkey will be elevated to the full-time assistant position.
“My two years as a GA there flew by so fast,” McConkey said. “… It hasn’t been work really — being able to work with the program and the coaches there. It was an easy decision to stick around.”
The Doane squad returns everyone who started last season including Conference Player of the Year and Second Team All-American Mak Hatcliff. The Tigers open their season on November 6 against Peru State in Crete.
“It is an awesome place, for sure,” McConkey said.
