🏀 Assistant Women’s Basketball Coaches, Buchanan and Player to Leave KU

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas women’s basketball head coach Brandon Schneider announced today that assistant coaches Damitria Buchanan and Jhasmin Player will be leaving the Jayhawks to take similar positions elsewhere.

"I want to thank Jhas and D for their commitment and dedication to our program during their time at KU. We wish them the very best in their respective journeys. "

Brandon Schneider, head coach

Coach Buchanan concluded her sixth season as an assistant and recruiting coordinator for the Jayhawks after joining the staff May 4, 2015. She managed and oversaw the day-to-day recruiting operations, coordinating all recruiting correspondence and recruiting social media needs. Buchanan put together the 2019 signing class which ranked No. 31 in the nation by Dan Olson Collegiate Girls Report, the third-highest ranking among Big 12 Conference programs. During the 2017-18 signing period, she aided Coach Schneider land their second five-star recruit in four seasons with the signing of Brooklyn Mitchell.

"I was excited for Johnnie Harris when she was named head coach at Auburn. Its’ an opportunity for her, which I believe was long overdue. Johnnie was D’s position coach and mentor as a college student-athlete and Coach D felt like she couldn’t pass on the chance to help her close friend transition from being a long-time assistant to a head coach. "

Coach Brandon

Prior to Kansas, Buchanan served as an assistant at Texas Tech from 2013 to 2015. Before coaching the Lady Raiders, she was a part of the coaching staff at Stephen F. Austin also under Schneider from 2011 until 2013. Buchanan played collegiate basketball at Texas A&M from 2006-10.

"These past six years have been a huge blessing in my life. The University of Kansas has made me who I am today and I am thankful for the opportunity to coach in the mecca of college basketball. Thank you to Coach Brandon for giving me my first opportunity to be a college coach at SFA and then trusting me enough to hire me at Kansas. I will truly miss this place and most importantly, the student-athletes who teach me more than I could ever teach them."

Damitria Buchanan

Coach Player wrapped her second year on Schneider’s staff after joining prior to the start of 2019-20 season. Prior to joining the Jayhawks, she spent a season with LMU women’s basketball. During her first year with the Lions, she helped LMU return to postseason play for the first time since 2001 after the Lions were selected for the 2019 WNIT.

"With the recent passing of Jhasmin’s mother, she felt the need to be closer to home and her family in what’s obviously been a very difficult time for them all. SMU provides her such an opportunity and we respect her prioritizing her family."

Coach Brandon

Before LMU, she spent a pair of seasons at the University of Maine in various positions including the director of operations, assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. Player spent five seasons in Europe playing professional basketball, giving her an advantage when recruiting internationally. She played in Portugal, Spain and Poland. She even rewrote the European record books in 2014 after averaging 39.9 points per game. She also spent one season with the WNBA Franchise, Atlanta Dream. Player graduated from Baylor University in 2009, having played for the Lady Bears women’s basketball team.

"I am very grateful for the time I was able to spend at Kansas, it was a pleasure working at the birthplace of basketball. I had a great time with Coach Schneider and learned a great deal from him these past two years. We were not just coworkers, we are now family. I feel like the way he handled the women’s basketball program through COVID and social injustices was miraculous. I can never thank him enough for the opportunity he gave me to coach and recruit on the biggest, brightest stage. If COVID has taught me anything, it is the importance of family. I’ve been given the opportunity to get closer to home and family, and at this stage in my life that is something I can’t pass up. I wish Kansas, Coach Schneider, the team and the entire athletic department nothing but the best. I am certain that the best is yet to come for Kansas and this women’s basketball program. Rock Chalk."

Jhasmin Player