Keitha Adams leaving Wichita State to return UTEP

Madeline Bell

Keitha Adams yells instructions to her team during the game against Missouri Southern on Nov. 1 at Charles Koch Arena. Adams was named the Wichita State head women’s basketball coach on March 29, 2017.

WSU Athletics announced today that head women’s basketball coach Keitha Adams is leaving Wichita State to take a head coaching job at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP).

“We appreciate and value Coach Adams’ contributions to our program and her support of the young women who have developed within it,” athletic director Kevin Saal said. “Coach Adams and her staff have served Wichita State University well and we wish her and her family the best in their future endeavors.”

Adams was the head coach at UTEP from 2001-2017. She saw the program’s transition from the Western Athletic Conference to Conference USA in 2005. 

During her tenure there, she won three C-USA titles, made two NCAA and Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) appearances and was named C-USA Coach of the Year in 2016.

At Wichita State, she put up an 80-93 record over six seasons. The Shockers made history this past season in the American Athletic Conference Tournament when they took down No. 1 South Florida in the second round and made the quarter finals.

The team also made their first WNIT appearance since 2012 and first postseason appearance since 2015.