Kevin Walden was named the Prairie Fire head men's basketball coach in August of 2012. The program is on the rise under Walden, who guided Knox to a five-win improvement in 2017-18 and its best season overall -- and in Midwest Conference play -- since the 2007-08 campaign.
Walden was the head men’s basketball coach for four seasons (2008-2009 through 2011-2012) at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, North Carolina. He was also the school’s sports information director and the assistant athletic director for external relations.
Walden inherited a men’s basketball program at Warren Wilson that had seven players and eight wins combined in the previous five years before he arrived and turned it around.
He guided the team to a 16-9 record during the 2011-2012 season, the program’s best record and first winning campaign in nearly 30 years.
The Owls finished the season ranked #9 in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association Division II national poll.
During his coaching tenure at Warren Wilson, Walden led the basketball program to its best four-year winning percentage in over three decades. He was also a two-time recipient of the Warren Wilson College Coach of the Year Award (2008-2009 and 2011-2012) and improved the team’s overall grade point average from a 2.5 to a 3.04.
Prior to taking over the program at Warren Wilson, Walden was an assistant men's basketball coach at Knox under Coach Tim Heimann from 2001 to 2006 and the college's sports information director. He moved on to become the associate head men's basketball coach between August of 2006 and June of 2008 at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa.
Walden was a four-year varsity men’s basketball letter winner and a two-year starter at Knox under Heimann. He started at forward for the 1999-2000 Knox team that finished second in the Midwest Conference with a 10-6 league record and a 15-8 overall mark.
Walden was named team captain for the 2000-2001 season, when he was selected as the squad’s most valuable player, most valuable offensive player, most valuable senior, and also received the Harley Knosher Award.
