The Southwestern University Pirates athletics department has ended its men’s basketball head coach search, hiring Connor Kuykendall from Schreiner University.

“Pirates Athletics is pleased to announce that Connor Kuykendall will be the next head coach for the Southwestern University men’s basketball program,” Associate Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Dr. Glada Munt said. “Coach Kuykendall comes from a successful winning philosophy which he will use to build on the success of the current program.”

Kuykendall graduated from Mary Hardin-Baylor, where he played from 2003-2007. He was named the head coach at Schreiner University in April of 2014, posting a 40-32 conference record in five seasons, including double-digit conference win totals the past three seasons.

He won back-to-back SCAC Coach of the Year awards, delivering the Mountaineers’ first regular season conference championship with an 11-3 conference record in the 2016-17 season and leading Schreiner to both the regular season and conference tournament championships in the 2017-18 season, earning the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth.

“I am honored and excited to become the next head basketball coach at Southwestern University. I would like to thank Dr. Burger, Dr. Munt, Glenn Schwab, Doug Ross and everyone involved in this process for this great opportunity,” Kuykendall said. “My family and I are looking forward to becoming a  member of the Southwestern University Community.”

Southwestern University ended the most recent regular season with a 14-12 overall record, including 11-5 in SCAC play, winning the conference regular season title. Next season, the basketball team will have seven seniors, including 2018-19 SCAC Player of the Year Brandon Alexander.

https://www.southwesternpirates.com/sports/m-baskbl/2018-19/releases/20190524sa9s57