UWGB women's basketball coach Kayla Karius hits ground running with recruiting, finalizing her staff

GREEN BAY – University of Wisconsin-Green Bay athletic director Josh Moon interviewed close to 10 candidates in search of a new women’s basketball coach.

Kayla Karius was the only finalist to make a visit to campus, which the former UWGB star did at the beginning of last week.

Moon was convinced he had his new leader by the time it was complete. Not only was he sold on her, but everybody who met with her felt the same way.

Moon first got to know Karius last year when she was inducted into the Green Bay Athletics Hall of Fame. When UWGB coach Kevin Borseth announced his retirement three weeks ago, she was high on Moon’s list to replace him.

Of course, the school had to come up with a competitive salary in order to land her after she made more than $250,000 in total pay as the head coach at South Dakota.

That figure is far more than UWGB has paid its women’s coach, and until men’s coach Sundance Wicks recently signed an extension that will pay him $300,000 in gross base salary next season, it was more than any coach made in school history.

The financial figures of Karius’ deal are not known because there wasn’t a finalized employment agreement entering last weekend, but it’s safe to say UWGB stepped up in a big way to land her.

“That’s the whole art of this thing, is that you have got to be able to be competitive,” Moon said. “That’s something for her, she was really competitive at her last place. Understanding that and just kind of setting that framework, that’s what the search firm laid the groundwork of where we were going to land. All the candidates knew up front, so there are no surprises.

“Here is where we are at, we are going to be really aggressive and make sure if we have the right candidate, we are going to make sure it reflects this program. Knowing where she was at and knowing where we’d need to be to even be in consideration for this position.”

Although they weren’t listed as requirements for the job, there is no question that Karius being a Wisconsin native and an all-time Phoenix great, not to mention understanding the culture of the program, were huge benefits.

She even has a strong relationship with Borseth, who recruited her to play at UWGB while in high school and will be around to help if she has any questions.

“People say the ‘Green Bay way,’ she epitomizes what that is,” Moon said. “For student-athletes to know that she has been in your shoes, this group wants to get to the Sweet 16. So, somebody who has been there and knows how tough it is to do that, that’s all the stuff beyond just the coaching things. I don’t know if you call that the icing on the cake, I don’t know if it is the cake, but it was really important.

“She doesn’t need a year to figure that out. You could see (at the news conference) she knows exactly what she is getting into and how important that is to make this program go.”

Karius got “butterflies” when she saw Moon’s number come up on her phone.

The opportunity to take over at her alma mater understandably was exciting, although it wasn’t easy to leave South Dakota after two seasons.

It’s a school Karius believes is on the right track in supporting women’s basketball, and she enjoyed success in her brief time after leading the Coyotes to the Super 16 of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament this season.

But the UWGB job always has been one that both Karius and her husband, Rick, have kept in the back of their minds.

She is from Sheboygan and played at UWGB. He is from Chilton and was the director of basketball operations for the Phoenix men’s team under Brian Wardle.

“I think as you get married and start a family, that becomes a harder thing to be so far from home,” Karius said. “You want your village nearby you. Family is something we value so much. That not being the only reason, but certainly being a big part of it.

“Learning more about the job and what this all entails, what this program has right behind it with all the support, then it becomes a no-brainer.”

Kayla Karius is already busy recruiting

If there is anybody who can relate to how returning Phoenix players feel, it’s Karius.

She was in their position as a senior in high school. She planned to play for Borseth in college only for him to leave for Michigan before her first season, instead playing her entire career for Matt Bollant.

Karius and Bollant teamed up to make the NCAA Tournament three times and reach the program’s only Sweet 16 in 2011.

Every player on the roster arrived in Green Bay with intentions of playing for Borseth, and now they will all end their careers with somebody else.

“It’s how I started with my talk with the players,” Karius said. “I looked at them and said, ‘I literally know exactly how you feel. You expected this to look one way. You expected to come in here and play for Coach Borseth, and that’s not going to be the case. Yet, you are here for a reason. You are here for the program over everything.’

“You trust the success that this place has had. I’m glad that I continued that with my decision with Coach Bollant taking over, and we reached new heights with it.”

Karius got the sense after she was hired that all Phoenix players plan to return rather than enter the NCAA transfer portal or graduate, including the trio of super seniors in guards Cassie Schiltz and Natalie McNeal and forward Jasmine Kondrakiewicz.

Those three have played four seasons but received an extra year of eligibility in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

UWGB also has added former Lakeland Union star Julianna Ouimette from the portal after she spent her freshman season at Lehigh and have landed verbal commitments from prep players in both the 2025 and 2026 classes.

It appears the Phoenix hasn’t missed a beat during its transition from Borseth to Karius.

“Your two main focuses are your current team and the future of the team, which is the recruiting,” Karius said. “As soon as I accepted the job, it was hit the ground running with both. Communicating with our current team and then on the recruiting side of it. We have jumped on that right away.”

Karius has earned high marks for her ability to recruit, which should help the team continue to stay near the top of the Horizon League standings and perhaps return to at least a Sweet 16 at some point.

“I’ve been recruiting the state of Wisconsin since I got into coaching, because I stayed in the Midwest,” Karius said. “I had a lot of contacts already. Really excited to be able to start locally. This program has been incredible with the local talent. Girls basketball in Wisconsin is at another level, and we need to continue to keep those players here at home and then work our way out from there.”

Karius is working on adding assistants

Karius plans to have her staff in place in the next couple of weeks, and there likely will be some new faces.

Borseth’s former associate head coach, Megan Vogel, took a job in January with the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury.

Longtime assistant Sarah Bronk, who was part of the staff when Karius played for the Phoenix, still could return. The futures of fellow assistants Meghan Pingel and Patrick Bowlin are unknown.

“We are still assembling the pieces of our staff,” Karius said. “I would say it’s starting to come together a little bit more. I can’t say at this point exactly names as we go through paperwork and things, but I think Phoenix fans will be really, really excited about the people and the names we will be bringing on staff.

“That piece of it is one of the most important pieces. That they have the local ties and certainly the fan base and local recruits can appreciate them and know them.”

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: UWGB women's basketball coach Kayla Karius recruiting players, coaches