Camryn Whitaker-Volz and Northern Kentucky University came to an agreement on Friday she will no longer serve as head coach of the women’s basketball team.
Volz was recently under investigation about alleged conduct. In Friday’s statement, the University said NKU they were aware of media reports about more claims against Volz over the last week. The statement said that although the university determined Volz did not violate any university employment policies, leadership agreed it is time to go in a different direction with the program.
“NKU thanks Coach Volz for her eight seasons of service to the program,” the statement said. “Coach Volz has been – and still is – appreciated throughout Norse Nation, and we wish Camryn and her family the best in coming years, both on and off the court. NKU will begin a search for the next head women’s basketball coach immediately.”
NKU named Volz the head coach on May 6, 2016 after previous head coach Dawn Plitzuweit took a similar position at the University of South Dakota. The Norse finished 106-126 over those eight seasons including a 72-70 record in Horizon League play.
After her third season in 2019, former players including Taryn Taugher accused Volz of emotional abuse, but an external review of the program said the claims were unfounded.
The Norse hit the 20-win plateau in 2021-22, led by Ally Niece and Molly Glick and earned the fourth seed in the Horizon League Tournament, which would be the program’s highest seed during Volz tenure. Volz’ best season came in 2021-22 when they finished 21-7 and made a Horizon League Tournament semifinal appearance. It was one of two semifinal appearances in Volz’ tenure, also doing so in 2023, both times coming up a game short of the championship game.
The Norse finished 11-20 this past season, including an 8-12 mark in the Horizon League. They battled injuries and welcomed in seven new players along with three new assistant coaches. They won in the first round of the Horizon League tournament before losing to top-seeded Cleveland State in the quarterfinals.
Carter McCray earned the Horizon League Freshman of the Year award and earned a spot on the All-League Second Team after averaging 15.7 points and 11.2 rebounds per game. Khamari Mitchell-Steen made the All-League Third Team after averaging 13.7 points, but those two have hit the transfer portal along with Allison Basye.
Pending whatever happens with the roster moving forward, the new coach could inherit two solid scorers to work with in Macey Blevins and Kailee Davis, who averaged 12.9 and 10.2 points per game, respectively. Freshman Noelle Hubert also showed promise making 24 starts and hitting 49 three-pointers good for second on the team.