Brandon Schneider wants to add to Kansas women’s basketball’s resume as NCAA tournament nears

LAWRENCE — There were a lot of reasons for Brandon Schneider to celebrate Kansas women’s basketball's Sunday victory against Oklahoma State.

In beating OSU, KU picked up another win in Big 12 Conference play. The Jayhawks also ended a three-game losing streak with that victory. And Schneider earned his 500th career win in his time as a head coach at the college level, which includes stops at Emporia State and Stephen F. Austin.

Regarding the latter, Schneider expressed gratitude Monday for the opportunities he’s had to be a head coach. He felt blessed to be surrounded by the coaches, support staff and players he’s been around over the years. The messages he received from former players of his, from all three stops, meant a great deal to him.

But with Kansas’ upcoming game Wednesday at home against Iowa State drawing closer, and postseason play coming not long after that, Schneider hasn’t allowed himself much time to revel in that moment. The Jayhawks are 17-10 overall and 7-9 in Big 12 play with two regular season games left. Those games and the Big 12 tournament are all that are left for Kansas before it learns if it’s been selected to be in the NCAA tournament, and Schneider is eager to add to the Jayhawks’ resume before that selection process is finalized.

“I don’t think we can be comfortable or complacent,” said Schneider, whose team made the NCAA tournament last season. “I think that we need to play in such a way that proves we have a great desire to go to the NCAA tournament.”

Kansas was projected to be a 10-seed in an ESPN post late last week that published a couple days before the Jayhawks beat Oklahoma State. Kansas was described as being on the bubble. If that’s an accurate depiction of where the Jayhawks are, Schneider’s viewpoint makes a lot of sense.

Kansas was 38th in the NET rankings through games played Sunday, with a semifinalist for the Naismith defensive player of the year award in senior center Taiyanna Jackson. It has a non-conference road win it can point to against a quality Arizona team, in addition to being better than being seventh in the Big 12 regular season standings may indicate on first glance. But another slide now could ruin the program’s shot at its first run to back-to-back NCAA tournaments since it did so since 2012-13.

As Schneider described it, the injury and illness bug has affected the Jayhawks more than it did last year, when they finished fifth in the Big 12 regular season standings and earned an 8-seed in the NCAA tournament. But they have to continue to try to overcome that, like they did Sunday against OSU when they won without senior guard Holly Kersgieter. Winning against Oklahoma State that day could prove critical for Kansas.

“It was a really big win,” Schneider said about an Oklahoma State, which is now tied for third in the Big 12 regular season standings with Iowa State.

Schneider added about OSU: “They’ve got a lot of quality wins, and for us to have two wins over them, especially without Kersgieter being available, I think was a really impactful win for us and hopefully one even in the eyes of those who are on the selection committee.”

Maybe a trip to enjoy some Topgolf a couple of days before the Oklahoma State win was the catalyst to getting the Jayhawks going again. Maybe that’s making too much of it. But the experience did come a couple of day after Schneider said Kansas’ pride was hurt in a crushing loss on the road against Kansas State.

Sometimes when you feel the weight of a season, Schneider explained, you need a release. You need something to help you remember how grateful you are to even have the opportunity you do. And that’s what going to Topgolf represented, in his mind.

Everyone had the opportunity to have some fun and enjoy each other’s company. He could see people smiling, laughing and joking around with each other. It was the kind of time that makes it fun to be a part of a team.

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Brandon Schneider wants to add to Kansas women’s basketball’s resume