SPRINGFIELD – Lady Bears head coach Beth Cunningham announced today the hiring of Kenzie (Williams) Kostas who returns to her alma mater to serve as an assistant coach.
Kostas spent last season as an assistant coach for the Florida Atlantic women’s basketball team under Coach Jennifer Sullivan, who served as an assistant coach at Missouri State during Kostas’ Missouri State playing career.
Before arriving to Boca Raton, Kostas spent the previous five seasons at Central Missouri, four as an assistant and one as a graduate assistant. Since becoming a full-time coach, Kostas led the Jennies to a 105-19 record with two Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association regular-season championships, an MIAA Tournament Championship, two NCAA Regional Championships, and a National Championship.
Kostas acquired national recognition in 2020 when she was named as one of the WBCA Thirty Under 30, which recognizes the top 30 collegiate coaches under 30 years old across the country.
Central Missouri qualified for the NCAA postseason in each of her four years as an assistant coach. In the 2020-21 season, the Jennies made a trip to the NCAA Final Four after winning the program’s eighth Regional Championship.
Kostas worked closely with the guards at Central Missouri, including All-Americans Paige Redmond, Morgan Fleming and Megan Skaggs. In addition to her work on the court, Kostas served as the team’s operations coordinator, which included managing travel arrangements, equipment, and camps.
Kostas graduated from Missouri State in 2016, after making 119 career starts for the Lady Bears over four years. The guard was a three-time All-Missouri Valley Conference selection while being named a First Team All-MVC choice in 2015 and 2016. Kostas completed her collegiate playing career with 1,645 career points, which was the seventh most in program history at the time her career ended. She also sat fifth in 3-point attempts (517), sixth in 3-pointers made (184), ninth in steals (212), and 10th in free throws made (345) and attempts (444) at her time of graduation.
She is one of just four players (Casey Garrison, Tyonna Snow, Brice Calip) in MSU history to finish with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 200 steals, 200 assists and 50 blocks in their career.
As a senior for the Lady Bears, Kostas was ninth in the MVC in scoring, averaging 14 points per game, while dishing out 2.8 assists per game. Her .391 3-point percentage was third in the conference, while her .783 free throw percentage and 1.7 steals per game were sixth. Kostas also had a streak of 34 straight free throws made in 2015-16, which is still the second-longest in MSU history and is currently tied for ninth in Missouri Valley Conference history. In her final season, she helped lead the Lady Bears to the NCAA Tournament in 2016, their first appearance in the tournament since 2006.
Off the court, Kostas became the third Lady Bear to receive MVC First Team Scholar-Athlete honors three times. She was also the 2015 MVC Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the MVC Elite 18 Award winner and MSU Co-Outstanding Female Athlete. Kostas made the MVC Honor Roll all four years and was a three-time MVC Commissioner’s Academic Excellence Award recipient. She was inducted into the Missouri State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2022.
Kostas graduated from Mt. Vernon High School in Mt. Vernon, Missouri, where she was a two-time All-State selection and won a Missouri Class 3 State Championship as a junior.
A graduate from Missouri State with a degree in elementary education in 2016, Kostas earned her master’s degree in educational technology from Central Missouri in 2018.
Kostas and her husband Alex, who played football at Missouri State, were married in June 2018. They welcomed their first child, Eli, in September 2021.
Coach Cunningham on Kostas:
“I am so excited to welcome Kenzie back to Springfield and have her take on a new role within the Lady Bear program. It was a no-brainer to bring Kenzie home. She understands the rich tradition, the history, and the success that is expected of this program. She is truly passionate about this university and will be an incredible asset for our student-athletes. Kenzie has not only seen great success in her playing career here at MSU, but also in her coaching career as she helped lead Central Missouri to a national championship, before moving into her most recent coaching role at FAU. We are thrilled to have Kenzie, her husband Alex, and their son Eli back in the Maroon and White!”
Her hire is contingent upon formal approval by the Missouri State Board of Governors at its next meeting.
