Keister added to Lady Frogs' coaching staff
5/15/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
May 15, 2007
FORT WORTH, Texas - TCU head women's basketball coach Jeff Mittie announced the addition of Josh Keister as an assistant coach on TCU's staff on Tuesday.
Keister joins the TCU staff after spending three seasons as head women's basketball coach at Missouri Western, where he compiled an overall record of 69-23. During the 2006-07 season, Keister guided the Griffons to a 30-4 record and No. 9 ranking in the final WBCA NCAA Division II top-25 poll. Competing in one of the top Division II conferences in the country, Keister led Missouri Western to a conference title with a 16-2 mark in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA).
"Josh had tremendous success as both an assistant and head coach at Missouri Western," Mittie said. "He is very familiar with our style of play and the TCU program. I have known Josh for 10 years and I think he will be an excellent addition to our coaching staff."
This past season, Keister helped Missouri Western to 30 victories for just the second time in school history, en route to guiding the Griffons to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the first time since 2004. On the year, the Griffons were ranked in every WBCA national ranking but one and were ranked as high as No. 2 at one point during the season. Keister's success in 2006-07 helped earn him the title of WBCA Region 6 Coach of the Year.
"I am very excited about the opportunity to join the coaching staff here at TCU," Keister said. "It is a tremendous opportunity to join a top-25 program that consistently competes for championships in the Mountain West Conference. I look forward to working with the student-athletes, coaching staff and administration as we continue to grow the program."
A native of Waterloo, Iowa, Keister coached five First Team All-MIAA selections during his tenure at Missouri Western, including senior center Inga Buzoka and junior guard Ashleigh Curry this season. In addition to being the MIAA MVP, Buzoka was also selected to the Division II Kodak/WBCA All-America Team and to the Daktronics All-South Central Region First Team.
In 2004-05, Keister coached the first two foreign-born players in the history of the women's basketball program. Senior guard Deldra Paixao and senior center Selma Barbosa were First Team All-MIAA selections. Paixao was also the league's Defensive Player of the Year, while Barbosa was a First Team All-South Central Region selection.
To begin the 2006-07 season, Keister helped the Griffons tie a school record for consecutive wins with 21 straight. Ironically, the record that Keister tied was previously held by Mittie, who graduated from Missouri Western in 1989 and held his first head job at the institution for three seasons (1993-1995), compiling a 76-17 (.817) record.
The 2006-07 WBCA Region 6 Coach of the Year, Keister led the Griffons to a 20-9 mark in his first season - 2004-05 - and were one of just two programs to win at least 20 games and not qualify for the tournament. In his second season in St. Joseph, Mo., the Griffons just missed qualifying for the NCAA Division II Tournament with a 19-10 record.
Prior to assuming the head coaching duties at Missouri Western, Keister served as the program's top assistant from 1999-2004. In his role, Keister was responsible for the recruitment of student-athletes and monitoring of student-athlete academic progress.
Keister joined the Missouri Western athletic department in the summer of 1996, where he served as the graduate assistant coach for both the men's and women's basketball programs.
In his role as graduate assistant and assistant coach, Missouri Western advanced to eight straight NCAA Division II Tournaments and averaged over 23 wins per season. During that time, the Griffons won two MIAA regular season championships, two MIAA postseason tournament titles and were ranked No. 1 in the nation twice.
Keister received his bachelor's degree in business administration from Mount Mercy (Iowa) College in 1996, where he was a two-year letterwinner. He also holds a master's degree in higher education from UMKC (University of Missouri-Kansas City).
In his senior year at Mount Mercy, Keister helped the team achieve its best overall record in school history (29-6) and advance to the round of 16 in the NAIA Tournament. Keister holds all three-point shooting records at Mount Mercy, including career, single season and single game records. Prior to attending Mount Mercy, Keister played two seasons at Iowa Lakes Junior College.
In coming to TCU, Keister joins a program that is one of just 12 in the nation that has advanced to the NCAA Tournament each of the last seven years. The Lady Frogs are coming off a season where they posted a 21-11 record and tied for second in the Mountain West Conference.
