Elzy Named Assistant Women's Basketball Coach

April 7, 2004

LAWRENCE, Kan. – University of Kansas women’s basketball head coach Bonnie Henrickson announced Kyra Elzy will join the Jayhawks as an assistant coach for the 2004-05 season. Elzy, a former University of Tennessee player and Western Kentucky assistant, joins Karen Lange and Katie O’Connor on Henrickson’s staff.

Prior to serving the past two seasons as assistant coach at Western Kentucky, Elzy spent one year as administrative assistant under Henrickson at Virginia Tech. While with the Hokies, Elzy was responsible for team travel, scheduling community service events and working with the women’s basketball summer camps.

As an assistant coach at Western Kentucky, Elzy dealt with the coordination of recruiting and official visits. On the floor, she worked closely with the guards and handled individual workouts.

As a player at Tennessee, Elzy was a member of two national championship teams (1997 and 1998) and a national runner-up squad (2000). She spent five seasons in a Lady Vol uniform, missing the 1998-99 season with an injury. During her time in Knoxville, she played in 126 games and earned the Holly Warlick Defensive Player of the Year award in 1997 and the Unsung Hero Award in 1998.

Elzy became just the fifth freshman in Tennessee history to start her first game as a Lady Vol when she started at guard in the 1996-97 season opener against Austin Peay. Elzy also earned another distinction during her playing career, becoming the first Tennessee player to earn her Master’s degree while still playing.

A standout in the classroom as well as on the court, Elzy made Tennessee’s Dean’s List each semester while in graduate school, and was also named to the 2000 and 2001 Southeastern Conference All-Academic teams. She was a three-time Lady Vol Academic Achiever, a distinction given to student-athletes that maintain a 3.0 grade point average for the year.

While at UT, Elzy was a member of the 1997 USA Junior World Championship team that went 6-1 in Brazil. Among Elzy’s teammates that brought home the gold medal was former Kansas standout Lynn Pride

A native of LaGrange, Ky., Elzy graduated from Oldham County High School in 1996. She guided OCHS to four district championships, two regional titles and a state semifinals appearance during her prep career. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in psychology and a Master’s in cultural studies in education with an emphasis in sports psychology from Tennessee.