Kancher Named Associate Head Coach For ?Roos Women?s Basketball
6/29/2016 10:31:00 AM | Women's Basketball
KANSAS CITY, Mo. ? Head Coach Marsha Frese and the UMKC women's basketball program have announced that Zach Kancher has been named Associate Head Coach after helping his alma mater George Washington to the A-10 regular season and conference tournament championships, as well as a berth in the NCAA Tournament last season.
“I'm ecstatic to be able to welcome someone with Zach's knowledge and expertise to our program here at UMKC,” Frese said.? “I know his championship experience at Maryland, Miami and most recently George Washington will have an immediate impact on our student-athletes, our program and add another dimension and layer of thinking to our staff.”
“Coach Frese is one of the most innovative, driven, loyal and player-friendly coaches in the business, and I owe her and her staff a world of gratitude for welcoming me with open arms,” Kancher said. ?“She clearly has a firm grasp of how to coach the 21st Century student-athlete and is whip-smart on and off the court. ?Through her staff and team's relentless work, UMKC is in a position to be extremely successful this season and I hope to make a contribution to that success. ?The school is located in a phenomenal part of Kansas City, and KC, on the whole, is a cosmopolitan, sophisticated city that, frankly, blew me away when I visited. ?The UMKC community has an incredible amount of pride in both their nationally ranked university and Kansas City in general, and there is palpable enthusiasm regarding the future of women's basketball at UMKC. ?I am most grateful to have the opportunity to coach here.”
Prior to his stint with the Colonials, Kancher served as an assistant with Miami (FL) where he helped guide the Hurricanes to a 20-win season and an appearance in the NCAA Second Round and before that he was a member of the staff at Maryland under Frese's sister and former NCAA Women's Coach of the Year Brenda Frese.
With the Terrapins, Kancher served as the Director of Scouting and Player Development for three season where he was the program's lead scout and responsible for complete scouting report generation including film breakdown and analysis and game planning and was part of 85 wins and three NCAA appearances, including trips to three Sweet 16's, two Elite Eights and one Final Four.
From 2008-11, meanwhile, Kancher served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Goldey-Beacom College, a DII school in Wilmington, Delaware, helping the Lightning to their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2011 and in 2007-08 he was the head coach at the College of Mount Saint Vincent, a DIII school in Bronx, New York.
After graduating college, Kancher broke into coaching with The Shipley School in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, where he spent four years on the girls' staff, including his final two as head coach.
During his college career at George Washington, Kancher served as a practice player for the women's squad while earning his B.A. in English and is currently pursuing his M.S. in Sport Administration from Canisius.
In addition to Kancher joining the staff, current assistant coach Pat Filien will now serve as recruiting coordinator for the ?Roos.
“Pat is such a people person, I am excited for this change in roles within our staff,” Frese said.? “You'll be hard pressed to find someone more positive and outgoing than Pat and I am excited for him to continue to build on our recruiting efforts as we work towards consistently becoming a championship program.”
The Blue & Gold will release its 2016-17 schedule of games later this summer.
Help us welcome @ZKRedhead to #TeamKC! https://t.co/4h547dtFJr pic.twitter.com/myshZ2g8Pr
— UMKC WBB (@UMKCWBB) June 29, 2016
