The winner of four state titles as a head coach at Kinston High School, Perry Tyndall has collected another statewide honor: North Carolina Coach of the Year in men’s basketball for 2025-2026.

The award puts Tyndall in the running for sectional and national coach of the year awards presented by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), the organization that leads and coordinates the work of state-based high school athletic associations.

“Receiving an award like this is because of the great student athletes I get to spend a lot of time with throughout the year,” Tyndall said. “It also isn’t possible without my assistant coaches that devote their time and energy to helping our basketball team. Ultimately this recognition is theirs also.” 

Tyndall’s most recent team capped a 22-3 season and an Eastern Region crown by winning the 3A state men’s title. Previously, he coached Kinston High to state championships in 2013, 2014 and 2015. With the three other titles Kinston won with Tyndall as assistant coach, he has been a part of seven state championships since 2008.

A native of Kinston and a graduate of Kinston High, Tyndall found a job as a teacher and JV basketball coach at KHS after graduating from the University of North Carolina in 2002. He stepped away from Kinston High long enough to earn an additional degree in exercise and sports science at East Carolina University and returned to LCPS as a teacher and basketball coach at Rochelle Middle School. In the fall of 2006, he was back on the Viking bench as an assistant. He became head coach for the 2012-2013 season.

With the championship in March, Tyndall logged his 306th win at Kinston High.

“Coach Perry Tyndall is one of the finest coaches in North Carolina’s storied history of high school basketball,” said Assistant Superintendent Nicholas Harvey II, the district’s athletic director. “What makes me admire Coach Tyndall is that he is a an even better person. He genuinely cares about the well-being of his student-athletes well beyond the classroom and basketball court.

“Lenoir County Public Schools and Kinston, N.C., are extremely lucky to have Coach Tyndall working with our young adults.”

The NFHS recognized North Carolina Coaches of the Year in 25 men’s and women’s high school sports for 2025-2026. The affiliated North Carolina High School Athletic Association will publicly honor those coaches in conjunction with the announcement of the NFHS Sectional and National award winners, which typically occurs in January.

Pictured:

Coach Perry Tyndall urges on his Kinston High School men’s basketball team, which won the state 3A championship in March. The winner of four state titles at Kinston since 2013, Tyndall was recently named North Carolina Coach of the Year in men’s basketball for 2025-2026.