McLendon earned this honor by guiding Tennessee State to the 1957, 1958 and 1959 NAIA national championships. His teams featured superior conditioning, a patented fast break offense and an aggressive in-your-face defensive attitude. McLendon championed for heightened awareness of basketball at all-Black colleges and helped initiate an era of integrated basketball. McLendon's well-rounded coaching background included positions at the collegiate, AAU and professional level.

He coached North Carolina College, Hampton Institute, Tennessee State, Kentucky State and Cleveland State along with the Cleveland Pipers (NIB-ABL) and the Denver Rockets (ABA). His teams won a combined 523 games and McLendon himself compiled a 76 percent winning mark over his 25-year career. Named the 1958 NAIA Coach of the Year, McLendon coached teams that won eight CIAA titles between 1941 and 1952, the NIBL and AAU championships in 1961, and the ABL Eastern Division crown in 1962. McLendon, who has traveled the world promoting basketball, wrote two books, Fast Break Basketball and The Fast Break Game. McLendon, a member of the NAIA Hall of Fame has also been enshrined into the Helms Hall of Fame and the CIAA Hall of Fame.