Karen Lange - Women's Basketball - Kansas Jayhawks

Karen Lange

TITLE Assistant Coach

Bio

Known as a top notch point guard in her own right, Karen Lange enters her sixth year as an assistant coach at Kansas and her 13th season working with Bonnie Henrickson. Lange works directly with the Jayhawk point guards.

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.

The 2006-07 season saw Lange direct Kelly Kohn to a stellar freshman campaign. Kohn, who started all 31 games of her first season of college basketball, finished the season averaging 9.8 points and 3.3 rebounds per game, while also leading the team in steals with 46 and ranking second in assists with 93. Kohn nabbed Big 12 Freshman of the Week honors in December and enters the 2007-08 season as one of the top young players in the conference.

In addition to getting Kohn’s career underway, Lange tutored her second Jayhawk to All-Big 12 honors as Shaquina Mosley was tabbed All-Big 12 second team. Mosley led the Jayhawks in scoring (10.7) and assists (110) on the season and also finished second on the team in rebounding (4.8).

During the 2005-06 season under Lange’s guidance, Catic ranked seventh in the Big 12 in assists per game and assist-to-turnover ratio. Erica Hallman was named All-Big 12 Honorable Mention, while tallying over 1,000 career points.

In her initial campaign at KU in 2004-05, Lange helped mold Hallman into an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selection — Kansas’ first point guard named to an all-league team since 2000-01.

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.

In addition to her on-court duties working with the point guards, Lange also assisted in the monitoring of academics, recruiting and scouting.

Lange, who moved into the role of recruiting coordinator at Virginia Tech in 2003-04, 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).