Karen Lange Accepts Job To Become Head Women's Basketball Coach At Mid America Nazarene
March 30, 2010
LAWRENCE, Kan. –
Kansas women’s basketball assistant coach Karen Lange is resigning her position with the Jayhawks to accept the head coaching position at Mid America Nazarene University in Olathe, Kan. Lange has been on KU head coach Bonnie Henrickson’s staff for a total of 13 years, including the last six at Kansas.
“I would like to thank Karen for all of her hard work and loyalty to the Kansas women’s basketball program,” said Jayhawk head coach Bonnie Henrickson. “She has an amazing work ethic and a true passion for both the game of basketball and working with young people.”
Lange replaces Bill Olin who retired after spending the past 11 seasons at MNU where he took a program which previously had just five winning seasons and turned it into a perennial 20-win per year program. Lange will become the ninth head coach to lead the Pioneer program.
In her time at Kansas, Lange worked directly with the Jayhawk point guards, including current redshirt freshman standout Angel Goodrich. Prior to a season-ending knee injury suffered in early January, Goodrich led the Big 12 and ranked fourth nationally in assists.
In 2008-09 Lange was oversaw the play of Ivana Catic, who finished the season ranked first in the Big 12 and ninth in the NCAA in assist-to-turnover ratio. Catic dished 134 assists, compared to just 60 turnovers, while LaChelda Jacobs came off the bench to average 5.9 points while also dishing 110 assists from the point guard position.
Lange tutored two Jayhawks to All-Big 12 honors as Shaquina Mosley was tabbed All-Big 12 second team in 2007 after leading the Jayhawks in scoring (10.7) and assists (110) on the season and also finished second on the team in rebounding (4.8). Following the 2005-06 season Erica Hallman was named All-Big 12 Honorable Mention, while tallying over 1,000 career points.
Lange originally joined Henrickson’s staff when Henrickson took over as head coach at Virginia Tech in 1997. At Tech, Lange helped develop Carrie Mason into a Big East All-Rookie selection in 2003 and Lisa Witherspoon into an All-Atlantic 10 second team pick in 1999.
Lange made the transition from player to coach after a standout career at the University of Iowa. In her time as the Hawkeyes’ point guard, Lange received All-Big Ten Conference and academic all-conference honors, in addition to helping lead Iowa to an appearance in the NCAA Final Four in 1993.
As a player at Iowa when Henrickson was an assistant coach there, Lange led the 1995-96 Hawkeyes to the NCAA Sweet 16. She dished out a team-leading 136 assists, while committing only 60 turnovers in 31 games.
Lange helped lead the Hawkeyes to the 1993 and 1996 Big Ten Championships in addition to Iowa’s impressive NCAA runs. Lange and the Hawkeyes were honored as the NCAA’s top defensive unit in 1993.
A native of Raleigh, N.C., Lange received her bachelor’s degree in exercise science from Iowa in 1996. She is married to Cory Lange and the couple has a daughter, Ashlyn (4), and a son Ty (1).
