Lake Forest College Assistant Vice President for Athletics Jim Catanzaro announced John McGinty as the Foresters' new head women's basketball coach on Wednesday.

"I am incredibly honored to be the next head women's basketball coach at Lake Forest College," began McGinty. "I want to thank President Sosulski and Assistant Vice President for Athletics Jim Catanzaro for the opportunity to lead this program. I look forward to working with the student-athletes currently on the team and bringing additional talented players to campus in pursuit of championships."

McGinty comes to Lake Forest after five seasons as the head coach at the University of St. Francis, where he is the program's all-time leader in coaching victories. The Saints were 110-45 overall and 75-27 in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference during that span. In addition to advancing to a pair of CCAC Tournament finals and winning the event in 2022, McGinty's teams made three appearances in the NAIA National Tournament and reached the second round twice.

Under McGinty's direction, St. Francis players earned 14 All-CCAC honors, two CCAC Player of the Year distinctions, and three NAIA All-America accolades. Three members of the program were also named to the CCAC All-Freshman Team. McGinty has been recognized for his success as well with three Illinois Basketball Coaches Association NAIA Coach of the Year honors.

Prior to his time at St. Francis, McGinty spent a combined eight years as an assistant coach at Lewis University, Northern Illinois University, and Loyola University Chicago and as a head coach at the University of Northwestern Ohio. Those teams combined for a record of 141-100 with McGinty on staff. Additional accomplishments during his time with those programs include Lewis posting the highest single-season victory total in school history and being the top-ranked team in the nation, Northern Illinois and Loyola making their first postseason appearances in decades, and Northwestern Ohio setting a team record for three-pointers made in a season.

McGinty graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in health and sport studies and earned a master's in organizational leadership from Lewis University.

"Coach McGinty has had an extremely positive impact on his teams throughout his coaching career," noted Catanzaro. "He has helped lead programs to unprecedented levels of success through his hard work, dedication to student-athletes, and ability to recruit talented players from the Chicago area and beyond. I look forward to our women's basketball team thriving under his direction."

McGinty has already started at the College. His Foresters will begin the 2026-27 season at Eureka College on November 8 and he will make his first appearance on the sideline in the Sports and Recreation Center three days later against Benedictine University.