The Kansas Wesleyan basketball team’s success during the 2023-24 season did not go unnoticed.
Coach Anthony Monson was chosen the 4-Year College Men’s Coach of the Year by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association after leading the Coyotes to another stellar season.
KWU finished 23-9 and tied Southwestern for second in the KCAC with an 18-4 record. Wesleyan advanced to the NAIA’s Opening Round for the third consecutive season, while off the court the team’s cumulative GPA surpassed the 3.0 mark.
Monson is the first KWU coach to win the men’s award since its inception 40 years ago. Ryan Showman won the women’s award in 2020.
“I don’t think you can be successful at this level and get these types of awards without a team effort,” said Monson, who completed his eighth season at KWU and has a 171-102 record – 72-25 the past three seasons. “It’s a big-time honor.
“Kansas Wesleyan has done a good job of giving us more resources every year. It starts with your administration believing in you and allowing you to go get the players and a staff that can complement those players – and I have a great staff. Then, obviously, those players going out and doing what they’ve done, we don’t do anything unless they do their job, so you’ve got to give them a lot of credit.”
After a slow start, the Coyotes won nine in a row and 11 of 12. They defeated ninth-ranked Southwestern twice in a 15-day period late in the season, finished second in the KCAC’s postseason tournament and became the first conference team to play an NAIA National Championship game on its home floor.
Jun Murdock was named a Third Team NAIA All-American and was a First Team All-KCAC choice along with Alex Littlejohn. Thurbil Bile and Izaiah Hale were Honorable Mention selections. In addition, nine Coyotes were named Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athletes and 13 earned Academic All-KCAC honors.
“It’s the culmination of a group that we had for a long time,” Monson said. “They know how to compete; they know how to win when it comes down to it. Last year, they learned how to win close games and they learned how to come from behind. That’s something that we weren’t great at before that, but they’ve gotten better and better.”
Monson says the program’s culture is a significant factor.
“Our culture is strong, and I think there’s a direct correlation to winning,” he said. “We understand what the expectation is to get the job done. It’s hard enough to get to the top; it’s even harder to stay there and be consistent. What I’m most proud of is the fact that our progress has been consistently very good for a number of years.”
Monson is looking forward to the 2024-25 season.
“We want to win a championship,” he said. “We’ve got a number of four-year kids in Easton (Hunter) and Alex and Izaiah back for their last year and one last hurrah. And we’ve brought in some talented guys to keep the ship moving forward, so I’m excited about the group.
“With the new pieces, there’s going to be some things that I have to do differently. We’ve got to get back to the drawing board and figure out what the strength of this team is going to be, and I’m excited for that.”
