University of Missouri women’s basketball head coach Kellie Harper has hired Kenzie Kostas to her staff as an assistant coach, the program announced.
Kostas, who previously played under Harper at Missouri State comes to the Tigers after spending the past three seasons on staff with the Lady Bears.
“Kenzie will be a strong asset for the program,” Harper said. “She is a relentless recruiter and has strong ties in the state of Missouri. She was a terrific player and possess a great basketball mind. Her complete understanding of the game will allow our players to be prepared in all situations. I am thrilled to welcome her and her family to Columbia.”
This past year, she helped guide Missouri State to the second round of the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament after posting a 26-9 overall record, which included a 16-4 mark against Missouri Valley Conference opponents. The Lady Bears earned numerous postseason accolades including defensive player of the year, sixth player of the year, all-newcomer team and all-freshman team.
During the 2023-24 season, Kostas coached the Lady Bears to a 23-10 record and third-place result in the MVC regular season standings following a 15-5 league record. Missouri State advanced to the MVC Tournament championship game and capped the season with an appearance in the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT).
Kostas developed DII transfer Lacy Stokes to MVC Newcomer of the Year honors after being named MVC Newcomer of the Week on nine occasions. Kostas also helped coach Lady Bears’ athletes to five other postseason accolades.
In her first season with Missouri State in 2022-23, Kostas helped lead the team to a 20-12 overall record. Statistically, the Lady Bears ranked inside the top 30 nationally in three categories: eighth in offensive rebounds per game (16.2), 10th in rebound margin (+8.9) and 26th in total rebounds per game (41.5).
Before her role at Missouri State Kostas spent the 2021-22 season as an assistant coach at Florida Atlantic under new Missouri assistant coach Jennifer Sullivan. Sullivan served as an assistant coach with the Lady Bears during Kostas’ playing career.
Prior to her time in Boca Raton, Kostas spent five seasons at Central Missouri, four as an assistant and one as a graduate assistant. After becoming a full-time coach, Kostas led the Jennies to a 105-19 record with two Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association regular season championships, an MIAA Tournament Championship, two NCAA Regional Championships and a National Championship.
Kostas acquired national recognition in 2020 when she was named one of the WBCA Thirty Under 30, which recognizes the top 30 collegiate coaches under 30 years old across the country.
Central Missouri qualified for the NCAA postseason in each of her four years as an assistant coach. In the 2020-21 season, the Jennies made a trip to the NCAA Final Four after winning the program’s eighth Regional Championship.
Kostas worked closely with the guards at Central Missouri, including All-Americans Paige Redmond, Morgan Fleming and Megan Skaggs. In addition to her work on the court, Kostas served as the team’s operations coordinator, which included managing travel arrangements, equipment and camps.
Kostas graduated from Missouri State in 2016, after making 119 career starts for the Lady Bears over four years. The guard was a three-time All-Missouri Valley Conference selection, while being named a First Team All-MVC choice in 2015 and 2016. Kostas completed her collegiate playing career with 1,645 career points, which was the seventh most in program history at the time her career ended. She also sat fifth in 3-point attempts (517), sixth in 3-pointers made (184), ninth in steals (212) and 10th in free throws made (345) and attempts (444) at her time of graduation.
She is one of just four players (Casey Garrison, Tyonna Snow, Brice Calip) in MSU history to finish with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 200 steals, 200 assists and 50 blocks in their career.
As a senior for the Lady Bears, Kostas was ninth in the MVC in scoring, averaging 14 points per game, while dishing out 2.8 assists per game. Her .391 3-point percentage was third in the conference, while her .783 free throw percentage and 1.7 steals per game were sixth. Kostas also had a streak of 34 straight free throws made in 2015-16, which is still the second-longest in MSU history and is currently tied for ninth in Missouri Valley Conference history. In her final season, she helped lead the Lady Bears to the NCAA Tournament in 2016, their first appearance in the tournament since 2006.
Off the court, Kostas became the third Lady Bear to receive MVC First Team Scholar-Athlete honors three times. She was also the 2015 MVC Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the MVC Elite 18 Award winner and MSU Co-Outstanding Female Athlete. Kostas made the MVC Honor Roll all four years and was a three-time MVC Commissioner’s Academic Excellence Award recipient. She was inducted into the Missouri State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2022.
Kostas graduated from Mt. Vernon High School in Mt. Vernon, Missouri, where she was a two-time All-State selection and won a Missouri Class 3 State Championship as a junior.
A 2016 graduate of Missouri State with a degree in Elementary Education, Kostas earned her master’s degree in Educational Technology from Central Missouri in 2018.
Kostas and her husband Alex, who played football at Missouri State, have one son, Eli and one daughter, Quinn.
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