South Dakota women’s basketball coach Carrie Eighmey has announced the hiring of Chris Guess as an assistant coach for the Coyotes.
“Chris is a winner,” said Eighmey. “He is highly respected by young women he has coached and by coaches all over the country! He’s passionate, hardworking, and understands what great cultures and winning programs look like and require. He also has a creative basketball mind and is a great teacher of the game. I have no doubt that Chris will make us better in every aspect of our program.”
Guess comes to South Dakota from Northwest Missouri State. In his lone season in Maryville, the Bearcats reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 13 years. Northwest Missouri State finished with a 23-8 record and tied for second in the MIAA.
A 32-year veteran high school coach in the state of Iowa, Guess was inducted to the Iowa Basketball Hall of Fame in 2022. He captured a pair of state championships at Waukee High School in the greater Des Moines metro. He served as a high school coach at Centerville, Glenwood, Ottumwa, Waukee and Waukee Northwest in the state of Iowa. His teams made 15 state tournament appearances during his high school coaching tenure.
Guess was a National Coach of the Year Finalist in 2022 and was also a nominee for the award in 2015. He was selected as the Iowa 5A State Coach of the Year in 2015 and 2021.
Guess earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Graceland College in Lamoni, Iowa, in 1988. He earned his business education certification in 1991.
Guess and his wife, Sheri, have two sons, Casey and Connor. Casey graduated from Iowa State in 2018. Casey and his wife, Madison, have a daughter, Carter. Connor also attended Iowa State and was a member of the Cyclone football team from 2018-22. Connor completed his bachelor’s in 2021 and his master’s in 2023. Sheri played women’s basketball at Colorado from 1991-93.
