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GREEN BAY – Kayla Karius’ first season coaching the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay women’s basketball team was such a smashing success that the school wants her to stick around a bit longer.
UWGB announced Saturday that it has signed Karius to a contract extension that runs through the 2030-31 season. It’s a two-year extension from the five-year contract she signed after being hired by her alma mater last April.
The contract included a base salary of $255,000 per season, which made her the highest paid women’s coach in UWGB history.
She has led the Phoenix to a 29-5 record and the NCAA tournament after the team earned an automatic bid with a win over Purdue Fort Wayne in the Horizon League championship game.
“I am proud to represent UWGB and thankful to this university for making our women’s basketball program a priority and providing a first-class college basketball experience for our student-athletes,” Karius said in a statement. “Our campus and community support is second to none, having led the Horizon League in attendance each of the last 25 years.”
Karius thanked UWGB Chancellor Michael Alexander and athletic director Josh Moon for their support and belief in the coaching staff and basketball program “long into the future.”
For UWGB fans worried that Wisconsin might come asking about their coach now that it has a vacancy with the recent resignation of Marisa Moseley, this at least provides a little comfort that Karius plans to stick around Green Bay for the foreseeable future.
The Sheboygan native started her head coaching career at South Dakota before leaving after two seasons to take the position at UWGB, which was a dream job for her after a standout career with the Phoenix from 2007 to 2011.
Karius said after being introduced as the fourth coach in program history that Green Bay is a place she and her family want to be for a very long time.
“Kayla and I talked, and I think for the recruiting and for the momentum here of what she is building and taking over for (Kevin Borseth) and doing an awesome job, finishing this year and then the next phase next year,” Moon said. “We both felt it was important to just get this done. This will take her through 2031, so that’s a long time from now.
“Yeah, other places like Wisconsin, of course people have questions about that. That’s just the business. This made sense.”
It’s not known if Wisconsin is interested in Karius, who served as an assistant coach for the Badgers for two seasons and the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator during her third and final season with the team before being hired at South Dakota.
It’s certainly possible Karius wouldn’t even have interest in the job despite the bigger salary that would come with it, especially with the commitment UWGB has put into women’s basketball.
But a contract extension doesn’t always guarantee somebody is staying. UWGB signed former men’s coach Sundance Wicks to an extension coming off his first season last April, and he left for Wyoming a month later.
Is Moon confident Karius will be here next season, and that this extension is a symbol of the relationship moving forward?
“Yeah,” Moon said. “I mean, anything can happen, right? But, yeah, I do feel confident that this is where Kayla wants to be. This is home for her. I don’t know if there is a better job in the country, to be honest with you, just in terms of what this program is and what it means. She believes in it.
“Again, anything can happen, but that’s the plan.”
UWGB could not have hoped for a much better season than what Karius produced in taking over for a legendary coach.
She would be the first to give all the credit to her players, but Karius and her coaching staff have the Phoenix riding a 22-game winning streak entering the NCAAs this week.
She already has gotten to work building next season’s team, which included adding former Green Bay Preble standout Carley Duffney after she recently entered the transfer portal.
“She has done a phenomenal job,” Moon said of Karius. “Not just her, the assistant coaches and then the team welcoming her and the adjusting they had in the first month or so of the season.
“You can see now they have hit their strides. I think a lot of credit goes to our team. Those seniors are so special, and what they have done for this university, you can’t put into words. And then what Kayla has done is just phenomenal. We are really excited to have her leading the way.”
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: UWGB women's basketball coach Kayla Karius earns extension
Continue reading...
UWGB announced Saturday that it has signed Karius to a contract extension that runs through the 2030-31 season. It’s a two-year extension from the five-year contract she signed after being hired by her alma mater last April.
The contract included a base salary of $255,000 per season, which made her the highest paid women’s coach in UWGB history.
She has led the Phoenix to a 29-5 record and the NCAA tournament after the team earned an automatic bid with a win over Purdue Fort Wayne in the Horizon League championship game.
“I am proud to represent UWGB and thankful to this university for making our women’s basketball program a priority and providing a first-class college basketball experience for our student-athletes,” Karius said in a statement. “Our campus and community support is second to none, having led the Horizon League in attendance each of the last 25 years.”
Karius thanked UWGB Chancellor Michael Alexander and athletic director Josh Moon for their support and belief in the coaching staff and basketball program “long into the future.”
For UWGB fans worried that Wisconsin might come asking about their coach now that it has a vacancy with the recent resignation of Marisa Moseley, this at least provides a little comfort that Karius plans to stick around Green Bay for the foreseeable future.
The Sheboygan native started her head coaching career at South Dakota before leaving after two seasons to take the position at UWGB, which was a dream job for her after a standout career with the Phoenix from 2007 to 2011.
Karius said after being introduced as the fourth coach in program history that Green Bay is a place she and her family want to be for a very long time.
“Kayla and I talked, and I think for the recruiting and for the momentum here of what she is building and taking over for (Kevin Borseth) and doing an awesome job, finishing this year and then the next phase next year,” Moon said. “We both felt it was important to just get this done. This will take her through 2031, so that’s a long time from now.
“Yeah, other places like Wisconsin, of course people have questions about that. That’s just the business. This made sense.”
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It’s not known if Wisconsin is interested in Karius, who served as an assistant coach for the Badgers for two seasons and the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator during her third and final season with the team before being hired at South Dakota.
It’s certainly possible Karius wouldn’t even have interest in the job despite the bigger salary that would come with it, especially with the commitment UWGB has put into women’s basketball.
But a contract extension doesn’t always guarantee somebody is staying. UWGB signed former men’s coach Sundance Wicks to an extension coming off his first season last April, and he left for Wyoming a month later.
Is Moon confident Karius will be here next season, and that this extension is a symbol of the relationship moving forward?
“Yeah,” Moon said. “I mean, anything can happen, right? But, yeah, I do feel confident that this is where Kayla wants to be. This is home for her. I don’t know if there is a better job in the country, to be honest with you, just in terms of what this program is and what it means. She believes in it.
“Again, anything can happen, but that’s the plan.”
UWGB could not have hoped for a much better season than what Karius produced in taking over for a legendary coach.
She would be the first to give all the credit to her players, but Karius and her coaching staff have the Phoenix riding a 22-game winning streak entering the NCAAs this week.
She already has gotten to work building next season’s team, which included adding former Green Bay Preble standout Carley Duffney after she recently entered the transfer portal.
“She has done a phenomenal job,” Moon said of Karius. “Not just her, the assistant coaches and then the team welcoming her and the adjusting they had in the first month or so of the season.
“You can see now they have hit their strides. I think a lot of credit goes to our team. Those seniors are so special, and what they have done for this university, you can’t put into words. And then what Kayla has done is just phenomenal. We are really excited to have her leading the way.”
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: UWGB women's basketball coach Kayla Karius earns extension
Continue reading...
