Hawai'i Hilo Vulcans Athletics

Steve Kinder joined the University of Hawaii at Hilo Athletic Department after coaching for over 30 years at Humboldt State University. He is an assistant coach on the Vulcan men's basketball staff and also serves on the administrative side in Corporate and Community Relations.

During his time at Humboldt State (now Cal Poly Humboldt), the Lumberjacks qualified for 12 NCAA tournaments, won 10 conference championships, and Kinder was named NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year (Smokey Gaines Award), the NCAA West Region Coach of the Year and the CCAA Coach of the Year. 

Kinder was a standout player, assistant coach and head coach at HSU. He spent the past ten seasons (2010-20) as the leader of the Lumberjack program. In 2011, Humboldt State went 26-4 under his watch, winning the CCAA title and advancing to the NCAA tournament. The Lumberjacks won three CCAA titles during his ten seasons as head coach and qualified for the NCAA tournament four times. 

Kinder guided the Lumberjacks to 6 postseason CCAA tournament appearances in his ten years as head coach.

The Lumberjacks were ranked twice in the NCAA top 10 while Kinder was leading the program. Four times, they won 20 games or more.

Prior to that, Kinder was an assistant under Tom Woods for 21 seasons during a run of great HSU success. The 'Jacks won seven CCAA titles during that tenure. They were ranked No. 1 preseason in 2004 and reached NCAA Final Four that year.  Kinder was the recruiting coordinator during his stint as an assistant coach. He landed seven All-Americans for the Lumberjacks.

Kinder also won a conference title as a player at HSU, graduating in 1985 with a degree in Kinesiology and a California Teaching Credential. He earned his masters from Humboldt State in 1988.

Kinder was an instructor of Kinesiology at Humboldt State University, faculty responsibilities teaching graduate level academic courses, undergraduate physical education activity courses, and a very popular recreation class, “Fishing the Northwest.”

Kinder was inducted into the Humboldt State University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2020. 
A San Diego native, Kinder was a standout athlete at Escondido High School and was inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2013. 

As a student athlete, Kinder won a Pacific Coast Athletic Conference basketball championship at MiraCosta College and reached the California State Final Four Championship game in a historic run for the Spartans. Kinder was named “Athlete of the Year” at MCC, 1983.

Kinder also competed in track and field at the collegiate level. He qualified for the NCAA Track and Field Championships with a throw of 223’10” that was a record second best in Humboldt State history.  He was the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference Javelin champion and finished third at the California Community College Athletic Association Track and Field championships.