UMKC’s new women’s basketball coach won’t need directions — she’s a Roos returnee
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- UMKC hires Candi Whitaker as head coach, returning about 15 years later.
- Whitaker previously led UMKC to a 22-12 season and Summit championship game.
- She brings Missouri Western success and two seasons coaching North Alabama.
Candi Whitaker is returning for an encore performance at UMKC.
The school announced Wednesday that it has hired Whitaker, 45, as its next women’s basketball coach. The union comes some 15 years after she previously held the position, guiding the Roos to ther first 20-victory season.
Whitaker spent the past two seasons at North Alabama. Before that, she was the coach at Missouri Western (2019-24) in St. Joseph. In 2022, the Griffons reached the Division II Elite Eight, and her final team there won the MIAA regular-season title.
Whitaker also was the head coach at Texas Tech from 2013-18 and departed Kansas City to join Oklahoma State’s staff as an assistant.
North Alabama, a member of the Atlantic Sun, went 13-17 during Whitaker’s first year in charge and finished 17-12 this season.
At Kansas City, Whitaker was an assistant when she took over as the Roos’ interim coach in 2006. She became the head coach on a full-time basis the next season and the program steadily improved.
In her third year, the Roos posted their best conference record, going 12-6 in the Summit. Two years later, UMKC finished 22-12, the second-most victories in a season for the program. That year, the Roos reached the Summit tournament championship game and played in the WNIT.
As a player, Whitaker started her career at Seward County Community College in Liberal, Kansas, before transferring to Texas Tech, where helped the Red Raiders to two Sweet 16 appearances.