Kansas women’s basketball coach Brandon Schneider said the suggestion by Vic Schaefer, his counterpart at Texas, that he is the Big 12’s Coach of the Year is merely a reflection of what the team has accomplished this season.
Schaefer told reporters Tuesday that Schneider has “done a heck of a job” guiding the Jayhawks (19-7, 10-6 Big 12), who are in line to make an NCAA Tournament appearance for the first time in nine years.
“It means something to me in that it means our players have responded really well to our staff this year,” Schneider said. “They’ve bought in and played really hard for each other. At the end of the day, that’s what really matters to us.”
Kansas, which had won nine conference games across the previous three seasons, had a seven-game Big 12 win streak, its longest since 1996-97, snapped last week in a loss to then-No. 9 Iowa State. It twice received enough votes to fall just outside the Associated Press rankings this season and swept the regular-season series against TCU, Texas Tech and West Virginia.
The Jayhawks garnered national attention with a 70-66 victory at then-No. 13 Texas on Jan. 12, their first win over a ranked conference opponent on the road since Jan. 4, 2012.
They’ll face the Longhorns (21-6, 11-5 Big 12), who are now ranked No. 9, on Wednesday at Allen Fieldhouse.
Schaefer, who is in his second season coaching Texas, led Mississippi State to back-to-back national championship game appearances in 2017 and 2018. He was named the national coach of the year in 2018.
“(The Jayhawks have) a heck of a team, and I think a really well-balanced group,” Schaefer said. “They know their roles. They do it really well. … They’re just really well-coached and unique in that regard in women’s basketball with what they run, and defensively, they’re really good.”
