Kansas State women’s basketball head coach Jeff Mittie finalized his inaugural staff on Tuesday, as he has added Jacie Hoyt-Capra as the team’s coordinator of recruiting operations.

Hoyt-Capra joins a K-State staff that features associate head coach Brian Ostermann, who has 23 seasons of coaching experience, assistant coach Ebony Gilliam, who has two seasons of collegiate coaching experience and two seasons of high school coaching experience at Dunbar High School in Fort Worth, Texas, and assistant coach Claire Coggins, who is a former K-State letter winner and All-Big 12 selection with three years of coaching experience at the junior college and NAIA level.

“I wanted somebody that continued to improve our ability to recruit across the state of Kansas,” said Mittie regarding the addition of Hoyt-Capra to his staff. “Jacie grew up in the gym. Her mom is one of the legendary coaches in the state. I wanted somebody that had that background from the time she was born and Jacie has that. She has the energy, drive and passion to be an excellent coach. I was impressed with what she has done to further improve her coaching every single year. Her job will be to coordinate all of our recruiting operations on campus. She will be the liaison between young players across the state for our camps and the coaches, both AAU and high school, not just across the state of Kansas but nationwide.”

Hoyt-Capra returns to the state of Kansas after a three-year stint at Nevada, with the last two seasons as an assistant coach on Jane Albright’s staff. As an assistant coach with the Wolfpack, Hoyt-Capra’s responsibilities included scouting, recruiting, point guard development, equipment, scout team management and summer camp coordinator. Prior to her appointment as an assistant coach, Hoyt-Capra served as the team’s director of basketball operations during the 2011-12 season.

“I am so thankful for the opportunity to be here and to be back in the state of Kansas,” stated Hoyt-Capra about her return to the Sunflower State. “The people are just unbelievable. They are warm. They are welcoming. They all take so much pride in this university. To get to be a part of this special group of people, especially here in Manhattan, is something I am really excited about and looking forward to. I am also really excited for the opportunity to work with Coach Mittie and learn from him. He is somebody I have always respected in the game of basketball. He is one of the most well-respected coaches in the country in terms of Xs and Os. I am really excited to learn a new philosophy and a new system from him.”

As the head coach at Wichita State, Albright recruited Hoyt-Capra out of high school in Hoxie, Kan., where she played basketball for her mother and coach Shelly Hoyt. Hoyt-Capra was a three-time all-state performer in volleyball and basketball, along with being crowned state champion in multiple track events.

As a senior for Hoxie, the first team all-class selection averaged 28.4 points per game, 7.4 assists per game, 6.3 rebounds per game and 6.1 steals per game. Playing under Hoyt’s direction, Hoyt-Capra had one of the most prolific scoring careers in Kansas history, scoring 2,016 points in just three years after missing her entire freshman season with an injury. Her career average of 26.6 points per game lands her sixth in career scoring average for the state of Kansas.

Hoyt-Capra’s college career was haunted by injuries, allowing her to play only two of her six NCAA eligible years as a freshman and sophomore. Despite sitting out the first two years of her college career, Hoyt-Capra went on to start every game as a freshman and sophomore at Wichita State.

As a freshman, Hoyt-Capra led the team in assists, was second in free throw attempts and fourth in scoring. As a sophomore, she was named team captain, along with winning the Iron Shocker Award. Hoyt-Capra continued to distribute the ball to her teammates, as she ranked fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference in assists, along with averaging a positive assist/turnover ratio.

In addition to her success on the court, Hoyt-Capra was also a standout in the classroom, landing on the Missouri Valley Conference, Athletic Director, and Dean’s honor rolls from 2006-08 with the Shockers. Hoyt-Capra graduated Cum Laude with a degree in general studies from Wichita State in 2009.

After graduating from Wichita State, she went on to earn her Master of Science in communication from Fort Hays State University in 2011, where she served as the women’s basketball team’s graduate assistant on head coach Tony Hobson’s staff.

Hoyt-Capra married former Wichita State and Oakland Athletics pitcher Anthony Capra on October 6, 2012.

Under Mittie, Kansas State will feature a roster of 10 returning letter winners and four newcomers. The Wildcats will be paced in the 2014-15 season by seniors Ashia Woods and Haley Texada and sophomores Breanna Lewis and Kindred Wesemann. Woods enters her final season with the Wildcats as K-State’s top returning scorer following a career-high effort in 2013-14.

Texada has fully recovered from a stress fracture in her ankle that robbed her of the final 14 games of 2013-14 season. The native of Frisco, Texas, will look to return to her sophomore season form when she averaged a career-best 11.8 points per game.

Lewis anchored K-State’s interior defense in her first season in Manhattan. The product of Milwaukee, Wis., registered a team-high 44 blocked shots which were the most by a K-State freshman since the 2005-06 season and tied for 10th in school history for a single season. She enters the 2014-15 season needing 21 blocked shots to move into the top-10 for blocked shots in a career.

Wesemann returns as K-State’s top 3-point shooter. The native of Pleasant Hill, Mo., finished out her rookie campaign in 2013-14 with five straight games in double figures and averaged 13.8 points per game in that stretch. She ended the season with a career-best 18-point performance against Kansas in the 2014 Big 12 Championship first round.

K-State women’s basketball season tickets for the 2014-15 season are available now for purchase. For more information on season ticket packages for the Wildcats’ 19-game home schedule, contact the K-State Athletics Ticket Office by calling 1-800-221-CATS or visit www.kstatesports.com/tickets.

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