Joe Kuhn completed his second season at the College of DuPage (Glen Ellyn, IL). His first year guiding the Chaps finished like so many other times in his career – at the National Tournament. Kuhn and the Chaps claimed the Great Lakes District Championship over Lorain County Community College to advance to the 2023 NJCAA D3 National Tournament, where they finished 2-2 for 6th place in the 12-team field. Simply put, Coach Kuhn is a program builder, reaching the NJCAA National Tournament in his first year with two separate programs after taking over struggling teams. It was the Chaparrals’ first trip to the Elite 8 since 2009 while being Kuhn's ninth trip overall. In his first season at Joliet Junior College, he guided the Wolves to a 3rd place national finish. 


Kuhn's love of sports was immediately evident when he first took to the field playing little league baseball on the southwest side of Chicago. And while he was a standout baseball player, his passion for basketball arose in junior high at Dawes School. Kuhn prepped in baseball and basketball at Bogan High School and then at Hillcrest High School upon moving to the south suburbs. The opportunity to continue playing basketball at Prairie State College (Chicago Heights, IL) presented itself and Kuhn’s career path was set. After serving as a team captain and starting two-guard for two seasons, he had a choice to make – continue playing, or take a rare opportunity to start coaching at Prairie State. Knowing that his playing days were nearing an end, Kuhn took the opportunity to coach and enrolled at Chicago State University. 

Upon earning a degree in Physical Education with a minor in Biology, Kuhn started teaching and coaching baseball and basketball at Thornwood High School (South Holland, IL).  Quickly rising through the basketball coaching ranks, Kuhn held assistant positions at the University of St. Francis (Joliet, IL) for legendary Hall of Fame Coach Pat Sullivan, as well as at Joliet Junior College and then Rich East High School (Park Forest, IL). After one season as an assistant, Kuhn became the head coach at Rich East for three seasons before accepting the head coaching position at Joliet Junior College, earning a 525-259 record in 24 years with the Wolves. Kuhn is a 2017 inductee to the NJCAA Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame in 2015 and the NJCAA Region IV Hall of Fame in 2013. In addition, he earned 2010 NJCAA National Coach of the Year honors after guiding his team to the national championship. Kuhn currently serves on the NJCAA Basketball Association Board of Directors in the position of Past-President.