April 9, 2018-Toby Wynn was formally introduced as the seventh head coach in Lady Hornet history to a near overflow crowd at the Sauder Alumni Center on Monday afternoon.
Wynn just completed his 13th season as head coach at Seward CC in Liberal, Kan with his second straight trip to the NJCAA national quarterfinals. He has led the Lady Saints to four Jayhawk Conference regular season championships and two Region VI Tournament titles. He is 349-84 at Seward with a 180-47 record in conference games.
The Booker, Texas native led the Lady Saints to at least 20 wins in each of his 13 seasons in Liberal, including four 30 win seasons and at least 25 wins in each of the last five years. Seward County finished this past season 31-4 and advanced to the national quarterfinals of the NJCAA National Tournament for the second straight season. His 2006-07 team went 36-2 falling in the national semifinals before rebounding to take third in the NJCAA Division I.
The 42 year old Wynn has coached 39 Jayhawk West All-Conference selections, 26 NJCAA All-Region VI performers, and 13 All-Americans. In the summer of 2011 Wynn was asked to participate with Team USA Women's Basketball during their 18-U National Team tryout camp. From 2011-15 Wynn served as president of the NJCAA Women's Basketball Coaches Association.
The Lady Saints excelled both on and off the court under Wynn's leadership. Seward is a two-time WBCA National Academic Champions for the community colleges and a five-time top ten finisher in the WBCA academic rankings. They were the 2015-16 NJCAA Academic Women's Basketball Team of the Year with a 3.57 team GPA and have been in the top 15 of the NJCAA Academic Awards in each of the last four years.
Wynn served as the Assistant Coach for the Lady Saints in 2004-2005 under former Seward County and current Oklahoma State head coach, Jim Littell. In his one season as assistant, the Lady Saints finished 5th at the NJCAA National Tournament and were Region VI Tournament and Jayhawk West Conference champions with a 35-3 overall record and a 14-2 conference record.
Before coaching at Seward County, Wynn was the Head Girl's Basketball Coach at Liberal HS and coached Boy's and Girl's Basketball at Balko (Okla.) HS. Wynn played basketball at Northwestern Oklahoma State for one season. Wynn then attended and graduated from Oklahoma State where he earned his Bachelor's in Business Education.
The Lady Hornets are set to return five players that started at least nine games this year including four of their top five scorers. They will also get back seniors Addie Lackey and Kyrstie Miller along with sophomore Daley Handy who all missed the entire 2017-18 season with injuries.
Below are some selected quotes from today's press conference.
Emporia State Athletic Director Kent Weiser
"What an exciting day for ESU Athletics, for ESU women's basketball and to have this room filled really means a lot."
"Back on March 12 we began a journey to find a new head coach for our women's basketball program and I'm happy to say that journey officially ends today."
"There was interest from scores of qualified candidates. My sincere thanks goes out to our office manager, Jennifer Collins, Associate Athletics Directory Don Weast and Deputy Athletics Director Krystie Bayer. They helped me identify and vet through more than 130 candidates."
"Today I'm excited to introduce our next head coach of such a a tradition rich program as Emporia State. He has established himself as a skilled coach, a great recruiter and a very talented Leader."
Lady Hornet Head Coach Toby Wynn
"It's a very special day here in Emporia, Kansas. I am extremely humbled and very honored to be the next head coach at Emporia State Univeristy."
"I know the history of the program here. I'm very familiar with it and have been all the way back to when Coach (Brandon) Schneider was here, and Jory's done an exceptional job as well."
"I learned a long time ago that if something's not broke, don't fix it. And there isn't anything that's broke right now with this program. It's just a matter of me coming in here and maybe implementing a little bit of a new philosophy of basketball. Maybe just a little bit different style of play that some people might have to get used to but that's OK."
"The bottom line is, these girls sitting here in the room with us today want to win and I want to win to. Winning is the key component here and that's what we intend to do."
"I'm extremely honored, I'm humbled, I'm excited to be here. I know this is a great program with lots of history. We want to protect the tradition of Lady Hornet basketball, but we also want to elevate it as well."
"Over the years our teams have been teams that play pretty fast and play furious on offense and create a lot of chaos on defense. I'll get to know these players and watch them during workouts and see what their skill sets are, and then we'll devise the best plan we can to be successful in whatever style we need to be."
"They (previous coaches Brandon Schneider and Jory Collins) have just said this place is just incredible. The support that you get here at Emporia State is just second to none and that there is nothing like playing a game in White Auditorium. They just rave about the community support and the work ethic of the players. The players that you get here and just the competitive will to win is something that they always talked about and that's something that we've been successful with at Seward County."
"This gives me an opportunity to move up to a different level and compete in the MIAA which is the best conference in the country when it comes to women's basketball. I welcome that challenge and look forward to it. I know it's a tough league, but I know we have tough players who are committed to winning."
Lady Hornet Senior Addie Lackey
"I liked everything that he had to say; everything that he stands for. He talked a lot about hard work and work ethic and talked about winning as the objective and that's exactly what we think. That's what our team stands for."
What others are saying about Toby Wynn
Brandon Schneider, Current University of Kansas and former Lady Hornet head coach
"I've known Toby for a long time. He's a terrific coach and a man of integrity and high character. He will be a tremendous asset to Emporia State, the Lady Hornet Basketball program, and the community of Emporia."
Jim Littell, Current Oklahoma State University and former Seward County CC head coach
"Emporia State hit a home run with the hiring of Toby Wynn! Toby's work ethic, knowledge of the game and ability to recruit will allow him to build on the rich tradition of Emporia State women's basketball. The success Toby has experienced in his 13 years at Seward County is truly remarkable! Toby is a proven winner that will bring an exciting brand of basketball for the players and fans!"
