Wichita State hires KU associate head coach Terry Nooner as head women's basketball coach

LAWRENCE — Terry Nooner’s latest stint on the Kansas women’s basketball coaching staff will end after three seasons, as Wichita State has hired him as the Shockers’ new head coach.

Wichita State announced the news Monday, a little more than two weeks after Nooner helped the Jayhawks to their WNIT championship run as their associate head coach. It comes as the Shockers look to reach their first NCAA Tournament since 2015. Considering the recent postseason success Kansas has enjoyed with Nooner on staff, including an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2022, Wichita State has picked a coach who understands what it takes to accomplish that.

“This is one of the most difficult decisions I’ve ever had to make, but I’m incredibly honored to announce that I will be joining Wichita State University as the Head Women’s Basketball Coach,” Nooner said in a Jayhawks release. “This is a dream come true, and I couldn’t be more excited to join Shocker Nation. While I may be leaving Lawrence for now, I will forever be a Jayhawk, and I will always treasure the opportunity Brandon Schneider and the KU administration gave me years ago to come back home. Rock Chalk!”

Nooner’s tenure as a college coach has seen him spend time as an assistant at Southern Illinois, Alabama, Maryland, Texas and, of course, Kansas. He’s also spent time at the professional level in player development in the NBA with the Cleveland Cavaliers. During his time with the Jayhawks, he worked with the team’s post players.

The past two seasons, that’s meant the opportunity to work with Kansas center Taiyanna Jackson. Jackson has set her program’s single-season blocked shots record each of the past two seasons after transferring in from a junior college program. So, in addition to enjoying team success, there’s individual success there and elsewhere that Nooner can point to being a part of.

Nooner joins Aqua Franklin and Jory Collins as assistants under Jayhawks head coach Brandon Schneider to become head coaches at the Division I level. Franklin took over at Lamar. Collins took over at North Dakota State.

“I couldn’t be happier for Terry and Tracy and their three children,” Schneider said Monday during a “Hawk Talk” show recapping the season. “I think it’s an unbelievable opportunity. I think — Terry and I have talked a lot over the last few years about the next step, and he’s good enough to be picky and not just jump at the first opportunity to be a head coach. And I think he played it brilliantly and he waited for the right, great, fit.”

Schneider continued: “I think Wichita State is a really, really good job. And he’s going to do great. And I just couldn’t be happier for him.”

According to a Wichita State release that was also put out Monday, Nooner will be introduced as the Shockers’ new head coach Thursday at 3:30 p.m. at Charles Koch Arena. It’s an event that is free and open for the public to attend. It will also be streamed live and be available on demand through ESPN+.

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: KU women's basketball assistant Terry Nooner hired at Wichita State