McKendree University Director of Athletics Chuck Brueggemann announced the hiring of Kari Kerkhoff as head women’s basketball coach on Wednesday.
She replaces former head coach Melissa Ringhausen, who stepped down from her position on March 3 after 18 seasons with the program to serve as full-time Associate Director of Athletics.
"We’re very excited to have Kari join our coaching staff," said Brueggemann. "She has an undeniable passion for teaching the game and developing student-athletes into great citizens. She’s had tremendous success coaching and recruiting at both the Division I and Division II level and we have no doubt that she will be able to continue that at McKendree. We look forward to watching her build our program into a premiere one in the Great Lakes Valley Conference and in NCAA Division II."
Kerkhoff joins the coaching staff after serving as associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at NCAA Division I Southern Illinois University Edwardsville for three seasons. The Cougars finished second in the Ohio Valley Conference regular season with a 13-3 record and ended their season in the semifinals of the OVC tournament with an overall record of 19-12. Their 19 wins and 13 league victories this season were both the best in program history.
"I’m thrilled at the opportunity to lead the women’s basketball program at McKendree University and cannot thank Chuck Brueggemann and Dr. Dennis enough for their support throughout this process," said Kerkhoff. "McKendree and the city of Lebanon have been very welcoming and will continue to provide a positive foundation and cornerstone for our student-athletes to be successful in the classroom, on the court and well beyond their time in a Bearcat uniform. The challenge of making our mark in the highly competitive Great Lakes Valley Conference is exciting and I can’t wait to get to work and begin moving forward."
Prior to her three seasons at SIUE, Kerkhoff served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Bradley University for six seasons. During her time with the program, the Braves set program records with 21 wins during the 2008-09 season and 75 wins from 2008-12, while making their first postseason appearance in 2009-10 to go along with a program-best third place finish in the Missouri Valley Conference. Bradley also earned wins over University of Illinois in 2008-09 and University of Iowa in 2011-12, as well as over University of Louisville in the Women’s Basketball Invitational in 2009-10. The Braves led the conference with a total of five Missouri Valley Scholar-Athlete honorees in 2011-12 and posted the highest team grade-point average in the fall of 2011 with a 3.46 GPA.
Kerkhoff also spent time as an assistant coach at NCAA Division I Elon University in Elon, N.C. from 2005-06, and at NCAA Division II powerhouse Michigan Tech University from 2003-05. During her time at Michigan Tech, the Huskies finished in third place in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with a 15-3 record and qualified for the NCAA Division II Tournament with an overall mark of 21-8.
In her role as recruiting coordinator at SIUE, Bradley, and Michigan Tech, Kerkhoff signed two conference All-Newcomer team honorees, three conference All-Freshman team honorees, one conference Freshman of the Year, and had three signees earn All-Conference accolades. She’s also had three players move on to play professionally overseas following their collegiate careers.
Kerkhoff graduated from the University of Nebraska Omaha in 2002 with her B.S. in Secondary Education specializing in Physical/Health Education, and was a four-year letterwinner for the Mavericks.
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