Women's Basketball Links

• Homepage
• Roster
• Coaches
• Recruiting
• News and Notes
• Schedule
• Stats
• Facilities
• 2008-09 Media Guide
• 2009 Camp of Champions

Head Coach
Brandon Schneider

Brandon Schneider, ESU's all-time coaching
leader in winning percentage (.823), is entering his tenth year as the head coach of the Lady Hornets. He was named the fifth head coach in ESU women’s basketball history on April 27, 1998.

He has coached five NCAA II All-Americans (Michelle Stueve, first-team Kodak 2006 & 2007; Kristie McClain, first-team Kodak 2003; Emily Bloss, first-team Kodak 2001, first-team CoSIDA Academic 1999, 2000, 2001; Tara Holloway, first-team Kodak 2000; and Jurgita Kausaite, first-team Kodak 1999) and two national players of the year (Emily Bloss, 2001 and Tara Holloway, 2000) in his first nine years as a head coach.

In his nine seasons as a head coach, he has led the Hornets to four MIAA regular-season titles, three MIAA post-season tournament championships, eight NCAA Tournaments, five NCAA II South Central Region championship games, and three appearances in the NCAA II Elite Eight. He was the first rookie head coach in the history of the conference to win both the MIAA regular season and tournament titles.

In 2006, the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association of four-year colleges voted Schneider as its Coach of the Year. Schneider was voted the MIAA coach of the year for the third time in his career in 2004. His 227 wins as a head coach represents over a third of the Lady Hornets total victories. Schneider has guided the Lady Hornets to the second, third, fourth and fifth most wins in school history.

“Brandon is a perfect fit at our university,” said ESU Director of Athletics Kent Weiser. “His tireless work ethic, dedication to his players, and his will to win means so much to Emporia and ESU.”

Since Schneider arrived at ESU as an assistant for the 1995-96 season, the Lady Hornets have been to the NCAA Tournament ten times, including a berth in the 1998 NCAA II championship game.
As a recruiter, Schneider has attracted six NJCAA All-Americans and four high school All-Americans to ESU.

Schneider has developed a reputation for player development during his time in Emporia. Both of Emporia State’s national players of the year have come from small town Kansas communities and
grown during their time at ESU. He has coached seven future professional players - Aneta Kausaite with the Detroit Shock, Jurgita Kausaite with Pantterit Club in Finland, Myshka Wilkerson with Club Yildirim Bosna in Instanbul, Turkey, Kristie McClain with BK SKJOLD in Copenhagan, Denmark, Michelle Brown in Wales, Esmary Vargas-Sanchez in Germany and most recently Denisa Svarova in Spain.

“As coaches we strive to take players where they cannot take themselves - as players, as students, and hopefully as people,” says Schneider.

During his stint as head coach, the Lady Hornets have had a cumulative GPA of over 3.00 and have consistently placed over half the team on the ESU Athletic Directors Honor Roll.

Schneider, a native of Canyon, Texas, was a 1995 honors graduate of Wayland Baptist (Plainview, Texas). At Wayland, Schneider was a
four-year letterman in men’s basketball and was the school’s first-ever NAIA academic All-American, capturing the honor three times. In 1994, he was named the WBU Outstanding Senior Student-Athlete and was team MVP as a senior after averaging 8.5 points
and four assists. In addition, he was voted the institution’s student of they year in psychology and secondary education.

Schneider’s father, Bob, has been one of the most successful women’s coaches at the NCAA Division II level, having served as the head coach at West Texas A&M from 1981 to 2006. They were the
first father/son combination to take teams to the Elite 8.

“Fortunately we have been able to establish our program as one of the premier programs in the country,” said Schneider. “Our players have repeatedly responded to our demands for excellence in the classroom and on the court. As a result the program has earned respect on a local, regional and national level.”