Central College Athletics

Joe Steinkamp was named the Central College head men’s basketball coach in 2022.    
    
The Dutch are 35-16 in his two seasons with the Dutch. The 2022-23 team went 13-3 in league play and won the American Rivers Conference title. Three Dtuch players were selected for the American rivers All-Confernece squad in each season, including center Joshua Van Gorp winning the conference Most Valuable Performer honors in both seasons. Van Gorp also earned All-American accolades in both years.

Steinkamp served as the school’s women’s basketball coach from 2017-22 years after spending 10 years as a Central men’s basketball assistant. In 2017, he inherited a women’s program that was coming off a 4-21 season and had not recorded a winning record since 2002. Steinkamp quickly initiated a turnaround, leading the Dutch to conference tournament berths in 2019-20 and 2020-21, the program’s first tourney appearances since 2004-05. In 2021, Central advanced to the semifinals for the first time since 2001 and Central’s 15 wins in 2019-20 were the most recorded since 1997-98.
            
Steinkamp’s commitment to Central men’s basketball runs deep.
           
A 2003 Central graduate and former Dutch co-captain while earning two varsity letters, Steinkamp spent a year as a graduate assistant women’s basketball coach at Loras College where he receive a master’s degree, followed by a season as men’s junior varsity coach at Central and a year as a volunteer assistant at Lewis University (Ill.). He was an assistant for former Dutch coach Mike Boschee from 2006-12, then returned to assist Douma from 2013-17. Steinkamp helped lead Iowa Conference championship squads in 2010 and 2014 and NCAA Division III tournament participants in 2010, 2014 and 2016.
           
“I’ve been a part of Central basketball for almost half of my life,” he said. “Some of my best memories, both personally and professionally, have come with the basketball program. It has such a family atmosphere and there are so many proud alumni I’ve played with and coached. I just looking forward to working hard to get back to being a program that competes for championships and gets back to the national tournament.”
           
Steinkamp is confident that can happen.
           
“My last six or seven years in the program I think we won more conference games and championships, both tournament and regular season, than any other school,” he said. “I think I have a great idea of what it takes to win at Central. We’ve done it before and now we can add the new facilities we have and the momentum we have in our athletics department.”
           
Central recently completed an $18 million renovation/expansion of P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium which includes spacious new locker rooms for the men’s and women’s programs.
           
Steinkamp’s message to current and prospective players is clear.
           
“I don’t think anybody loves Central basketball more than I do and I understand what it means to play for Central and what it takes to win at Central,” he said. “We’ll play a brand of basketball that is exciting to watch and exciting to play. We’ll have players that want to work really hard and do whatever it takes to make this a program that our alumni and players are proud of.”                             
 
Achievements

Central College - Men's head coach

• 35-16 (.686) overall record in two seasons as head coach
• 24-8 (.750) conference record 
• (1) American Rivers Conference title (2023)
• (2) All-American honorees (2023 - Joshua Van Gorp, 2024 - Joshua Van Gorp)
• (2) American Rivers MVP awards
• (6) American Rivers All-Conference performers

Central College - Women's head coach

• Led team to two league tournament berths, the program's first in 15 years
• Led team to league semifinals for first time in 20 years
• Led team to most wins in 22 years
• 41-66 (.383) overall record in five seasons as a head coach
• (9) All-American Rivers Conference honors

Central College - Men's assistant

• 169-123 (.578) overall record in 11 seasons as an assistant coach
• 92-88 (.511) conference record in 11 seasons as an assistant coach
• (2) Iowa Conference titles (2010, 2014)
• (20) All-Iowa Conference performers
• (3) NCAA Division III Championships appearances (1-3 record) 

Lewis University - Men's assistant

• 13-14 (.481) record in one season as a volunteer assistant coach

Loras College - Women's

• 15-12 (.556) record in one season as a graduate assistant coach
• (1) all-conference performer

Athletics career

Central College

• Team co-captain in 2002-03 as a senior
• Earned two varsity letters
• Started in 32 of 52 career games played
• Scored a total of 418 career points for an average of 8.0 ppg
• Also had 259 career rebounds, 50 assists, 11 blocks and 43 steals

Year-by-year Central men's basketball record

Year-by-year Central women's basketball record