Jon Lewis, a five-time Heart of America Conference Coach of the Year recipient, was named Women's Basketball Associate Head Coach on Mar. 30, 2026. Lewis comes to Kansas City as one of the winningest head coaches of all-time at the NAIA level, ranking No. 18 on the national active wins list headed into the 2025-26 season.

"Coach Jon Lewis is a home-run hire and perfect fit for our program as Associate Head Coach," Whitaker said. "With Kansas City roots, few people are more connected and understand both the local high school and club basketball landscape better than Jon. Not only did he build a grassroots club program from the ground up, but he is a proven winner at the collegiate level with an elite basketball mind. His character and values align perfectly with what we are building here at Kansas City and I can't wait to work with him."

Lewis departed MidAmerica Nazarene University following a remarkable 15-year run as head coach of the Pioneers. In his storied tenure at MNU, Lewis led the Pioneers to the national tournament on 14 occasions, including seven trips to the Round 16s, two Round of 8s appearances and the 2016 National Championship. Lewis also guided MidAmerica Nazarene to 11 conference championships, winning six Heart of America Conference regular season titles and five conference tournament titles in his illustrious stint with the Pioneers.

A player development mastermind, Lewis coached 17 All-Americans with 41 MNU players reaching All-Conference status under his tutelage. Most notably, Lewis coached four Freshman of the Year, three Newcomers of the Year, two Defensive Players of the Year and one Player of the Year in 2013. Just as impressive, each year of Lewis' tenure was spotlighted by multiple players making it to a Heart of America All-Conference team with 19 players garnering Heart First Team status.

Lewis proved himself to be a winner in every sense of the word, compiling a career head coaching record of 362-111 and winning 82% of the program's conference games during his time at the helm. In 10 of his 15 seasons, MNU has won 20-plus games including multiple 30-plus win seasons in 2013 and 2016.

In 2025-26, Lewis won the Heart of America Coach of the Year award after leading the Pioneers to a 28-4 season in which MNU went 19-1 in conference play while capturing a second straight Heart of America regular season title and winning the program's sixth tournament championship in the process. The Pioneers polished off their remarkable run by winning multiple games in the NAIA Tournament and making a seventh appearance in the Round of 16.

In the five seasons prior, Lewis led MidAmerica Nazarene to the national tournament four times (2021, 2022, 2023, 2025) while winning two Heart of America regular season titles in that span. The 2025 campaign was particularly impressive as the Pioneers went an undefeated 24-0 in Heart regular season play. Lewis won his fourth career Coach of the Year award in the Heart while mentoring four All-Conference performers and an All-American.

In the 2010's, Lewis continued to oversee one of the best programs in the NAIA with the Pioneers making the national tournament every season of his tenure which began in 2011. Most notably, MNU got to the Sweet 16 in 2019 and the Elite Eight in 2018 while winning 25-plus games and providing multiple All-Americans in both seasons.

The 2015-16 campaign was a historic one for the MNU program as the Pioneers won 32 games, tied for the most in program history, and capped the year off by winning their fifth conference tournament title and first national title, defeating Baker 49-35 in the championship game. Lewis was awarded NAIA Coach of the Year distinction following the Pioneers national title run.

Prior to the 2016 season, Lewis had taken MNU to four regular season titles and three conference tournament championships in his first four seasons at the helm. Lewis took over the program in 2011, following Karen Lange. The Olathe, Kan. native spent five seasons as an assistant coach with the program before taking over the head coaching position. In that span, Lewis was on the sidelines for the Pioneers first-ever run to the Fab Four in 2007.

Lewis has left a lasting impact on the basketball community in Kansas City, co-founding the KC Hoops Factory organization and coaching for several local AAU teams including the U17 EYBL team that finished top 16 in the country this past summer.

Before his coaching days, Lewis graduated from MNU in 2006 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Physical Education. Lewis has two children, Tegan and Tatum.

Name	Title	Phone	Email Address
Candi Whitaker	Head Coach
Jon Lewis	Associate Head Coach
Sandra Abston	Assistant Coach
Chayla Cheadle	Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator
Park Shogren	Assistant Coach

Name	Title	Phone	Email Address
Nicole Villarreal, MEd, ATC, LAT, CES	Assistant Athletic Trainer (WBB, MGOLF)		nvillarreal@umkc.edu
Sean O'Connor	Director of Sports Performance (WBB, Track, Golf)		s.oconnor@umkc.edu

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