It’s Time for Kansas Women’s Basketball to Move On From Brandon Schneider

In a must-win game for the Kansas women's basketball team, the Jayhawks fell 55-48 to Colorado in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament. The defeat likely ended KU's chances of postseason play, considering they are among the last teams in First Four Out projections.

With the loss, KU dropped to 19-13 on the year in what has been another incredibly disappointing campaign under Brandon Schneider. It will mark the second straight season without a March Madness appearance for the program and the ninth time in head coach Brandon Schneider's 11-year tenure at the helm.

Given the lofty expectations Kansas had entering the season, it would not be surprising if this was Schneider's final year coaching in Lawrence. It feels like a fitting time to move on from the Lady Jayhawks' longtime coach.

The Time Has Come for Brandon Schneider and Kansas to Part Ways

Schneider's time has not been entirely terrible, as he took the program over in a poor state and helped rebuild it. After a few rough seasons to start, there was momentum after KU won the WNIT in 2023 and then made the tournament in 2024 as a No. 8 seed, falling to JuJu Watkins and USC in the Round of 32. But since then, the past two years have been subpar.

The team was incredibly inconsistent this season, finishing 11th out of 16 in the Big 12 standings for another sub-.500 finish in league action. The only real chance Kansas had to be considered by the Selection Sunday committee was to make a deep run in the Big 12 Tournament, but it bowed out last night in a low-scoring defeat that saw the Jayhawks shoot just 35.8% from the field and connect on only two 3-pointers.

On the recruiting trail, Schneider has been absolutely killing it in recent years, assembling the No. 7 recruiting class in the country this past offseason that featured a pair of 5-stars and 4-stars. Yet even with young phenoms like Jaliya Davis (19.9 PPG, 6.5 RPG) and star guard S'Mya Nichols (17.3 PPG, 4.7 APG), the results simply have not been there for Schneider.

Keep in mind, this is the same program that made nine consecutive NCAA tournaments from 1991 until 2000 under Marian Washington. There is no reason Schneider should not be producing similar outcomes with the level of talent he is coaching.

Firing Schneider risks losing some of KU's promising recruits, but given his inability to lead the program over the hump, it is a decision well worth considering if Athletic Director Travis Goff can find a suitable replacement on the open market.