GREEN BAY – The last six months have flown by for Kayla Karius since she was named the women’s basketball coach at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.
In what feels like a blink of an eye, the former Phoenix standout has gone from an introductory news conference in April to kicking off a new era when UWGB plays at No. 13 Kansas State at 11 a.m. Monday.
“We have accomplished a lot, we have hit the ground running with so many different things,” Karius said. “Really excited. I think our team is really getting to that point where we feel prepared, and we feel ready to go face somebody in a real life game setting.
“There are so many veteran players on this team who are getting ready to kick off their final year of college eligibility. That’s a big deal for a lot of them. They are excited to go make their mark.”
Karius didn’t allow herself a soft landing for the start of her Phoenix coaching career, instead scheduling one of the best teams in the country to play.
But if any squad is ready for such a big challenge so early on, it might be UWGB.
Karius is not exaggerating when she points out how many experienced players are on the roster.
Former Luxemburg-Casco guard Cassie Schiltz is entering her sixth season with the program, made possible by redshirting her first year and using the extra year of eligibility granted to student-athletes who were in college during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Schiltz already has more than 1,000 career points.
Senior guard Bailey Butler has been a key figure since being named both the Horizon League’s top freshman and the Sixth Player of the Year in 2021-22.
Former Kimberly star and senior guard-forward Maddy Schreiber has started 69 of the 78 games she has played since her rookie campaign.
Senior forward Jasmine Kondrakiewicz has played 2,080 combined minutes the past four seasons, senior guard Natalie McNeal has played the last two seasons with UWGB after spending two seasons at St. Louis and senior guard Callie Genke is coming off the best season of her career.
Need more?
The Phoenix added some veteran experience in the transfer portal during the offseason, including landing former Eastern Illinois players in senior guard Miah Meyer and junior guard Ellie Buzzelle.
It’s no wonder the team is ranked No. 10 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 preseason poll. It’s two spots behind fellow Horizon League member Cleveland State.
Those two are expected to finish at the top of the league standings this season, with CSU picked first in the preseason poll and UWGB second.
“Obviously, this year is really exciting,” Schreiber said. “We have everybody back and returning and a lot of new faces around. It’s a really good opportunity.
“We are starting this year off with a big bang playing Kansas State. We are excited to get the year rolling and go play some good competition.”
For the players on UWGB in the recent past, there has been a transition to make during the offseason.
They had only known playing for former longtime UWGB coach Kevin Borseth, who retired in April.
It has gone as smoothly as anybody could have hoped.
“She knows what it’s like to be a player,” Schreiber said of Karius, who is one of the best players in UWGB history after scoring more than 1,300 points and grabbing more than 650 rebounds from 2007 to 2011. “I think she is bringing in a different perspective from that sense. But also, she is just really intense. KB was also really intense, but bringing in a different perspective and just different opportunities for us. It’s giving us a great experience overall.”
Karius also used that word. Opportunity.
To think about installing a new system or making a few tweaks isn’t considered a challenge but instead an opportunity.
Karius was the South Dakota coach the last two years and led the Coyotes to back-to-back winning seasons, which included a 23-13 mark and two wins in the WNIT in 2023-24.
But she hasn’t felt the need for a major overhaul or to blow things up and do things a completely different way just to say she did.
She simply has identified what is working, what things need to be improved and how the staff can put its own twist on things.
“We are tweaking, we are playing maybe just a little bit differently,” Karius said. “Certainly, adding new pieces. But I think it’s just a really cool opportunity to walk in and not have to rebuild the whole system and to prepare and develop all these young players.
“It’s a really cool thing to be able to explain something, and you get a lot of head nods because they already know what you are talking about. It’s been a meeting in the middle sort of situation. Where I’ve come in and said I want to see what you guys have already done and let’s see if it works. Same thing with them. They have to come meet me and be open-minded to making changes, too. So far, it has worked out really well.”
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: The Kayla Karius era is here for the UWGB women’s basketball team
