On paper, it was a no-brainer.
A near .900 winning percentage, three national titles and the list goes on.
But what Jeff Hans showed during in-person interviews is what made him standout, named the next women’s basketball coach at Northern Kentucky University on Monday.
“The first thing that jumps off the page is the level of success, competitive success that he has,” NKU Vice President and Director of Athletics Christina Roybal said. “But it’s very clear, he’s very relational. It’s about relationships, building that support for the team. It goes way beyond just the competitiveness and you could see that and feel that genuine care for the program.”
Hans heads 7.6 miles down the road from Crestview Hills to Highland Heights, spending the last 13 seasons with the Thomas More University women’s basketball program. Hans replaces Camryn Whitaker-Volz, who she and the University agreed to part ways after the season amid an investigation over allegations of making racial and homophobic remarks and degradation of mental health. The University determined Volz did not violate any university employment policies, but leadership agreed it is time to go in a different direction with the program.
Hans looks to ignite a program that went 11-20 this past season and has lost two of their top players to the transfer portal in Carter McCray and Khamari Mitchell-Steen. In Volz’ eight-year tenure in Highland Heights, the program went 106-126 and failed to make it past the Horizon League Conference tournament semifinals. Whitaker and the University agreed to part ways on April 5.
“We went as quickly as we could knowing that we needed to make the right decision,” Roybal said. “If it took a little bit longer to make sure that we got the right person, that’s what we were gonna do. It was it was amazing to see how eager Jeff was for the position and so that did help.”
Hans lost just 42 games in 13 seasons with the Saints and has shown the ability to be able make the jump to the next level, starting at Division III and winning two national titles, moving up to NAIA and winning a national championship in 2022 and this past season where Thomas More made the jump to Division II where they went 18-11 in their inaugural season.
“There’s a lot of things that take place at those certain levels where you don’t have the resources, now you have the resources,” Hans said. “The staff, the assistants, the director of operations. The basketball is the same, yeah at every level the athleticism increases, but you still see people running flex offense and doing the basic stuff. The X’s and O’s we’ll be fine on, but it’s the other things that have really prepared me for this opportunity and this chance right now to make sure we can work to be successful.”
His track record includes a record of 339-42 with eight conference regular season championships, eight conference tournament titles, 11 national tournament appearances and two NAIA runner-up seasons. He’s been named National Coach of the Year three times.
“I don’t know the winning percentage, I can’t tell you,” Hans said. “There’s 42, that’s the only number I know about and that’s the number of losses in 13 years. I don’t know how many wins, I don’t care about that part of it. There’s a lot of people that helped me get there. This wasn’t a Jeff Hans things by any means. It’s the players I was talking about, it’s the administration. It’s the coaching staff. It’s not a one-man show by any means. And it’s going to be the same here with everybody involved within the program.”
Hans is no stranger to NKU, an assistant with the women’s program from 2008-11 and a graduate assistant from 2001-02 under Nancy Winstel. He’s also had stints at the high school level with Lexington Catholic and St. Henry, combining to go 89-34 with two district titles and two regional runner-up finishes.
Hans has also been an assistant at Indiana State from 2002-04 and an assistant at his alma mater, Wilmington College from 1999-2001.
Hans was recently inducted into to the Northern Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame as part of their April 2024 class.