Kansas State Head Basketball Coach Casey Alexander announced the additions of veteran coaches John Cooper and Phil Cunningham to his coaching staff on Friday afternoon (April 10).

“I’m excited to welcome Phil and John to K-State,” said Alexander. “They have parallel paths to Manhattan as they both bring a long resume of high major experience and head coaching experience. Players and staff alike will benefit from their longevity of success.”

Cooper and Cunningham join the staff as assistant coaches following the announcement of fellow assistant coaches JJ Butler, Kerron (kuh-RON) Johnson and Luke Smith and General Manager Sean Rutigliano (roo-till-ee-AH-know) to the coaching staff.

The coaches have significant experience, including multiple stints as head coaches at the Division I level. Cooper won 102 games in eight seasons at Tennessee State (2009-12) and Miami-Ohio (2012-17) while Cunningham won 84 games in seven seasons at Troy (2013-19) and ULM (2025-26). Cunningham was also a head coach at the NAIA-level Sue Bennett College from 1992-95.

Cooper, who is from Kansas City, Mo., and starred at Wichita State from 1987-91, brings more than 32 years of coaching experience to the staff, including stints as an assistant coach at the Division I level with South Carolina (1995-2001), Oregon (2002-04), Auburn (2004-09), Oklahoma State (2017-20), SMU (2020-22) and UNLV (2022-25), where he worked for coaches Eddie Fogler, Ernie Kent, Jeff Lebo, Mike Boynton, Tim Jankovich and Kevin Kruger.

Cunningham, a native of Paducah, Ky., has been a college basketball coach since 1990. He has been a Division I assistant coach at James Madison (1995-97), Georgia State (1997-2000), Mississippi State (2000-12), Western Kentucky (2012-13, 2019-23) and ULM (2024-25), where he has worked for coaches Lefty Driesell, Rick Stansbury, Ray Harper and Keith Richard.