Jory Collins just completed his eighth season as head coach at Emporia State and has continued the excellent tradition of Lady Hornet basketball. He was the first Lady Hornet coach to have seven 20 win seasons in his first seven years as head coach. He has led Emporia State to five MIAA Tournament Championships, seven conference title games, six NCAA Tournaments and six trips to the NCAA Sweet 16 including a berth in the 2015 NCAA Division II Final Four. He is 199-58 as a head coach.

March is when Collins’ teams have thrived as the Lady Hornets are 20-3 in the MIAA Tournament since he took over in 2011. Emporia State has made it to the championship game of 13 out of 15 post season tournaments under Collins, appearing in seven MIAA Tournament and six NCAA Regional Tournament Championship games.

He has 36 career wins against teams in the WBCA Top 25 and the Lady Hornets are 30-10 in his last 40 meetings with top 25 teams. He is 17-9 against top ten teams in his seven years as the Emporia State head coach.

During his tenure he has recruited and coached the third leading scorer, third leading rebounder, and leading shot blocker in school history. 

Collins led the Lady Hornets to their 22nd straight winning season in 2017-18 while playing the fourth toughest schedule in the nation and losing two senior starters and Division I transfer for the season in a span of four days before the start of the exhibition season.The Lady Hornets rolled to an unprecedented fifth straight MIAA Tournament title in 2017 and sixth straight trip to the NCAA Division II Sweet 16.  He is 33-8 in the post season, with a 19-2 record in the MIAA Tournament and 14-6 mark in the NCAA Tourney.

Despite not having a four year senior on the team, Collins led the Lady Hornets to their fourth straight MIAA Tournament championship and fifth trip to the Sweet 16 in 2016.

In 2015 Emporia State broke through to the Elite Eight by defeating then sixth ranked Ft. Hays State in front of nearly 5,000 in Hays. It was the third time in four years Collins’ team had defeated the regional hosts. The Lady Hornets then made their fourth Final Four in school history with a victory over last year’s national runners-up West Texas A&M. The dream season ended with a 51-46 loss to eventual national champion California (PA) in the Final Four.

He was named the Russell Athletic/WBCA NCAA Division II Region 7 Coach of the Year in 2014 after leading the Lady Hornets to a 30-4 record and third straight regional championship game. Along the way he led Emporia State to their second straight MIAA Tournament Championship in their fourth straight trip to the title game. He became the first coach in Emporia State and MIAA history to advance to the four conference tournament and three regional tournament championship games in his first four years as a head coach.

In 2012-13 he led the Lady Hornets to their first MIAA Tournament Championship since the tourney moved to Kansas City and were within .7 seconds of advancing to the Elite Eight. At one point Emporia State won seven straight games against nationally ranked teams.

With only one scholarship senior and six of the top nine scorers either freshmen or sophomores, Collins led the Lady Hornets to a 23-9 record in 2011-12 and the NCAA South Central Regional Championship game.

In 2010-11 he led Emporia State to a 20-9 record and became the second MIAA coach to win 20 games and make the MIAA Tournament Championship Game. In 2009-10 Collins was the lead assistant for Emporia State as the Lady Hornets won the NCAA Division II National Championship.
 
“It is truly an honor to be the head women’s basketball coach at Emporia State University. It is a privilege to be able to lead a program of such stature and national prominence,” said Collins. “The support this community provides, makes Emporia State one of the elite places to coach and play basketball in the country.”
 
Collins was a member of the Lady Hornet coaching staff for ten seasons before becoming head coach and Emporia State advanced to the NCAA tournament in nine of those seasons. 
 
Starting in 2000-01, Collins was involved in almost every aspect of the Lady Hornet program.  He served as a practice player while a student/volunteer assistant from 2000-03. He returned to the program as a graduate assistant in 2004 after a year as a fifth grade teacher at Lowther South Intermediate School in Emporia.  As a GA he was responsible for the Lady Hornets strength and conditioning program, travel, film exchange and coordinating the fall and spring individual workouts.
 
He returned to the Lady Hornet bench for the start of the 2006-07 season as a volunteer coach and was promoted to full assistant in the spring of 2007. In addition to his recruiting efforts, Collins has been in charge different aspects of play on the court focusing on post play in 2009-10, scouting as well as strength and conditioning as a full assistant.
 
Originally from Holton, Kan., Collins was a standout athlete who competed in both football and basketball for Holton HS. He received his BS in elementary education from Emporia State in 2002 and a master’s in educational administration from ESU in 2006.
 
He is married to former Emporia State track and field athlete Casey Wilson, a teacher at Emporia HS.  The two are the parents of two boys, Jett and Jude.

Collins Year by Year
Emporia State head coach
Year          Overall    MIAA
2010-11    20-9        15-7       MIAA Tournament Championship Game
2011-12    23-9        14-6*      MIAA Tournament Championship Game
2012-13    23-9        13-5*      MIAA Tournament Champions
2013-14    30-4        16-3*      MIAA Tournament Champions
2014-15    29-5        15-4*^    MIAA Tournament Champions   
2015-16    28-6        17-5*      MIAA Tournament Champions
2016-17    29-5        15-4*      MIAA Tournament Champions
Total        182-47      105-34
*NCAA Tournament Regional Finalist
^NCAA Divison II Final Four

Collins vs. MIAA Opponents
Central Missouri...............9-5
Central Oklahoma...........12-1
Fort Hays.........................9-5
Lincoln University............11-0
Lindenwood University.....5-0
Missouri Southern............10-1
Missouri Western.............8-3
Nebraska-Kearney...........8-0
Northeastern State..........8-4
Northwest Missouri..........9-2
Pittsburg State.................11-9
Southwest Baptist............11-1
Washburn........................14-5