It’s 9:05am at Saint Joseph Church Gymnasium this week in Avon Lake, all children hear the whistle, and get into a triple threat position. It’s the middle of summer and parents have a lot of choices for what camps their kids could be doing, and what activities they could be participating in, but for 75 kids on the west side of Cleveland, this gym is packed for Head Start Basketball camp.
Kent State men’s basketball alum Mike Klinzing is in his hoops heaven. Klinzing, founder of Head Start Basketball, is finishing his eighth basketball camp of the summer, on his 40th day. Klinzing has been running basketball camps for 32 years. He founded Head Start Basketball in 1993.
Mike played High School basketball at Strongsville, where he was All-State as a senior. After graduating in 1988 it was off to Kent State to play for the late Jim McDonald. A 1,000 point scorer at Kent, Klinzing recently held the record for most threes made in a game (9) and most steals in a game (8) until recently when Sincere Carry (3FG’s made) and Malique Jacobs (steals) broke both records.
“I was always chasing the dream of playing D1 basketball when I was in high school,” Klinzing said. “Coach Jim McDonald at Kent gave me that opportunity. I saw other guys that I played with and against all the time who I thought I was as good or better than getting scholarships. I almost recruited myself to Kent. I was the seventh guy in a freshman class of seven. I played five minutes a gams as a freshmen, then started every game after that. We went to the NIT my freshmen and sophomore year.”
“We didn’t win as much as we hoped as juniors and seniors despite having three 1,000 point scorers. Playing for Coach McDonald was tough at times. He was definitely old school, but I wouldn’t trade my experience at Kent for anything.”
While at Kent State Mike became just the 15th member of the university’s 1,000 Point Club. As a three year starter, he was named to the All Mid-American Conference Academic Team three times. Mike was also named to the GTE-COSIDA All-America Team three times.
After his playing career, Klinzing knew basketball was in his blood and he wanted to coach. Mike began his coaching career back at Strongsville High School as a junior varsity assistant coach. From there Mike returned to school to earn his elementary teaching certificate. During those two years Mike was the Junior Varsity Head Coach at Bay High School in Bay Village (coached future NFL punter Dave Zastudill). Mike was hired as a teacher at Richmond Heights Elementary School in 1995 and was the Assistant Varsity Basketball Coach at Richmond Heights High School for fourteen seasons.
Mike knew he wanted to develop his own basketball camp. He was able to work with and learn from coaches at camps like Michael Jordan’s Flight School, The Ron Harper Basketball Camp, The Scott Roth Basketball Camp, The Ohio State University Basketball Camp (Gary Williams and Randy Ayers), and The University of Michigan Basketball Camp (Steve Fisher). With Head Start Basketball, he’s developed a camp that focuses on sportsmanship, being a good teammate as well as fun and skill development.
“Head Start Basketball started in 1993. It has been a great way for me to impact kids in a positive way through basketball. The three goals for kids at camp are to have fun, learn something about the game and to inspire kids to play more basketball.”
Eight years ago Mike began offering HSB Skills Training in the Cleveland area. Mike is now one of the most sought after basketball skills trainers in Ohio. One of Mike’s specialities is his ability to remember the name of each player at his camps.
Camps aren’t the only way Klinzing gives back to the game of basketball. The Hoops Head Podcast that Klinzing hosts has grown into one of the top basketball podcasts in the country, and is a must listen for any diehard hoops head.
“The Hoops Head Podcast started in 2018,” the 1992 KSU grad explains. “It was originally going to be a show focused on youth basketball parenting, but we got connected to Alan Stein who opened his contact list for us and the show quickly became an interview show for coaches. It has become another avenue for me to give back to the game of basketball and share the knowledge of so many great people who have been guests. I’ve learned so much about coaching and also about the technical side of podcasting too. We are almost to 1,000 episodes.”
Kent State Head Coach Rob Senderoff has been a guest on the show and is a good listen for Flash fans out there. Former Kent Stater Eric Haut is also a guest.
As for the current Kent State program, Klinzing tries his best to stay informed.
“I try to get back to at least one game a year. I’m in touch with Coach Senderoff, but probably not as active and involved as I could or should be. I try to attend any and all alumni events If I can.”
A life in hoops for this Kent State alum, Klinzing continues to give back to so many children all over Northeast Ohio. Well done fellow Flash, a Kent State alumni success story.