May 22, 2015-A run to the NCAA Division II Women's Final Four helped Emporia State Lady Hornets coach Jory Collins garner 2015 four-year college Coach of the Year honors from the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association. This is his first KBCA Coach of the Year award and the fifth overall for Emporia State coaches.
Collins wrapped up his fifth season as the head coach at Emporia State by taking the Lady Hornets to their sixth Elite Eight in school history. In his first five seasons he has led Emporia State to three MIAA Tournament Championships, five conference title games and four trips to the NCAA Sweet 16 with one trip to the Final Four.
He is 125-36 as a head coach and has gone 23-6 in the month of March in his first five years. He is the first coach in Emporia State and MIAA history to advance to five conference tournament and four regional tournament championship games in his first five years as a head coach. He has won 20 of his last 25 games against teams ranked in the Top 25
The Lady Hornets started the season with just four returners from last year's 30-5 team that won the MIAA Tournament and advanced to the Sweet 16. Needing to blend eight players that had not played with them last year, a slow start could have been expected. That didn't happen as Emporia State led Kansas State by one point with a minute left before falling 54-50 before reeling off 11 wins to start the regular season. The Lady Hornets spent four polls as the #1 ranked team in the nation and were even featured in the New York Times after their 57-56 win at Missouri Western. Â
Emporia State finished the regular season 22-4 while playing in the top ranked Division II conference in the country. Six of the 14 teams in the MIAA were ranked in the top 25 at some point in the season with four teams spending time in the top ten.
March is when Collins' teams have traditionally shone the brightest and this year was no exception. The Lady Hornets rolled to a third straight MIAA Tournament title and advanced to the Sweet 16 for the fourth straight year. They broke through to the Elite Eight by defeating then sixth ranked Ft. Hays State in front of nearly 5,000 in Hays. It was the third time in the last four years Collins' team had defeated the regional hosts. The Lady Hornets then made their fourth Final Four in school history with a victory over last year's national runners-up West Texas A&M. The dream season ended with a 51-46 loss to eventual national champion California (PA) in the Final Four.
Collins' philosophies helped the Lady Hornets lead the nation in field goal percentage defense and blocked shots while ranking second in scoring defense and seventh in rebound margin. Offensively Emporia State averaged over 70 points per game while ranking eighth in the nation in scoring margin.
Emporia State finished the year 29-5 overall while playing with just one senior throughout the post season. Eight of the ten players on the Elite Eight roster were from the state of Kansas including All-American senior Merissa Quick of Cheney and MIAA Freshman of the Year Addie Lackey from Hillsboro.
Collins will receive his Coach of the Year award on June 27 as part of the KBCA Awards Reception in Salina, Kan. The reception will begin at 1:30 p.m. in Pioneer Hall on the campus of Kansas Wesleyan University.
Emporia State KBCA Coach of the Year Winners
2015 Jory Collins, Women's Coach of the Year
2010 Brandon Schneider, Women's Coach of the Year
2006 Brandon Schneider, Women's Coach of the Year
1998 Cindy Stein, Women's Coach of the Year
1986 Ron Slaymaker, Men's Coach of the Yea
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