Coach Ron Lykins is a nationally and internationally recognized leader in adapted sports, with more than 30 years of experience in wheelchair basketball and athlete development. The winningest coach in National Wheelchair Basketball Association history and a four-time Paralympic Games gold medalist with Team USA Paralympic Wheelchair Basketball, Coach Lykins has played a pivotal role in advancing the sport at both the grassroots and elite levels.
Lykins has enjoyed a distinguished career with Team USA Paralympic Wheelchair Basketball, serving in multiple coaching roles across three decades. He led the U.S. Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Team to a gold medal at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens and contributed to additional Paralympic success as both a head and assistant coach, including a silver medal finish in 1990. Over his international career, he guided national teams to four Paralympic gold medals and one silver, compiling an exceptional 98–9 record and becoming the first coach in Paralympic history to lead both men’s and women’s teams to gold.
Beyond international competition, Lykins has made lasting contributions to program development and coaching education. As Director of Training for the American Association of Adapted Sports Programs from 1998 to 2008, he established national coaching standards, developed training curriculum, and authored foundational adaptedSPORTS™ publications. His earlier work includes directing disability sports programming at the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater and contributing to the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games as Venue Manager for wheelchair basketball.
Lykins earned both his Bachelor of Science in Community Recreation and Master’s degree in Therapeutic Recreation from the University of Kentucky. He is currently the Mizzou Wheelchair Basketball Head Coach at the University of Missouri, and has set the gold standard, building the program since 2009. His impact on the sport has been recognized with induction into the National Wheelchair Basketball Hall of Fame (2018) and the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame (2022), and by the naming the home court in Brewer Fieldhouse the Ron Lykins Court at the University of Missouri.
Through decades of leadership, Coach Lykins has built a legacy defined by excellence, innovation, and a commitment to developing athletes into leaders—on and off the court.
For more on Coach Lykins, visit:
Ron Lykins – Missouri Sports Hall of Fame
Ron Lykins – NWBA Site
Team USA | Ron Lykins, Coach Of Four Wheelchair Hoops Gold-Medal Teams, Retires From Team USA (2021 article)
Wheelchair Basketball’s next power move – University of Missouri