Lindley officially takes over the reigns of Barton women’s basketball

Lindley officially takes over the reigns of Barton women's basketball
Chance Lindley was officially named the new head women's basketball coach at Barton County Community College after approval of the College's Board of Trustees Tuesday afternoon. Lindley takes over for Lane Lord, who resigned to take over as coach at Pittsburg State University. Lindley was an assistant for the Cougars this past season, helping the club to a 27-3 record. He becomes the 9th coach in the program at the school.

"This is a tremendous opportunity given to me. I am very excited to be the new coach of the Barton women's basketball team," Coach Lindley said. "I was glad I got the first year as an assistant coach. Moving from high school to college can be done, but sometimes it is one step forward and two steps back," Lindley said. "I really enjoyed the year and to not be thrown into the fire."

The hire was made almost immediately following Lord's resignation but had to wait for board approval to become official. Barton Director of Athletics Kurt Kohler wasted little time in promoting Lindley.

"I am very excited to have Chance Lindley take over our women's basketball program. I knew immediately after Coach Lord resigned that Chance should be our next coach," Kohler said. "His coaching philosophy is one that fits well into the vision and mission of Barton County Community College, and this philosophy will be demonstrated in the types of student-athletes he signs to play at Barton."

Before spending last season on the Barton bench, Lindley coach high school basketball in Wichita. During the 2005-06, Lindley guided Wichita Collegiate to a perfect 26-0 mark and the Class 3A state title.

In his first season at Barton, Lindley helped the team to the 3rd best winning percentage in school history. The team ended on a 12-game winning streak, but did not get into the post season due to department-wide sanctions at the school.

"Hopefully we will pick up where we left off this year. Lane laid a good foundation here and hopefully we can expand on that foundation," Coach Lindley said. "I think we can excel in the classroom as well as on the court."

 "He has proven that he is a great coach, both at the high school and collegiate level," Kohler said. "Coach Lindley deserves this opportunity to continue building our program into one of the nation's premier basketball programs."

In his four seasons at Collegiate, Lindley guided his teams to a combined 91-10 record with 3 straight state tournament appearances. In his 2nd season at the helm of the Spartans, Collegiate made it to the finals of the Class 4A state tournament, finishing runner-up with a 23-3 mark. The next season the Spartans returned in to the 4A tournament, placing 3rd with a 24-2 overall record before winning the 3A title in 2006, earning the 3A Coach-of-the-Year that season by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association. He was the Wichita Metro Coach-of-the-Year his final two seasons at the prep level as chosen by the Wichita Eagle.

Prior to coaching at Collegiate, Lindley started his coaching career as the head coach at Wichita Independent School. There he led his team to an 18-4 record in his 2nd season – the best mark in school history and more wins than the school had its 3 previous seasons combined. In his 1st season Independent went 5-15. His overall 6-year high school coaching record was 114-29.

Lindley was a high school legend during his playing days in the state of Kansas. Lindley played for Christian Sunrise Academy in Wichita, putting up more points than in anyone in the history of prep basketball in Kansas. Lindley, who graduated from Sunrise in 1995, scored more than 4300 points during his career. He netted 75 points in one game. He was an all-state selection all four years of high school and was honored as a Christian High School All-American as a sophomore, junior, and senior.

Lindley was the leading scorer in the state of Kansas his final 3 years of basketball and led the nation in scoring his senior with an average of 43 points a contest.

Lindley graduated from Wichita State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Education majoring in Physical Education. He graduated Cum Laude with a 3.493 GPA. He was a Kansas High School Honor Scholar graduating from Sunrise Academy with a 3.9 GPA.

Chance Lindley 
Assistant Women's Basketball Coach – Barton County Community College
2006-07 – 27-3, 15-1 in Jayhawk West (tied for best mark in West)

Head Girl's Basketball Coach – Wichita Collegiate High School
2005-06 – 26-0, Class 3A State Champions (best record in school history)
2004-05 – 24-2, 3rd place Class 4A
2003-04 – 23-3, 2nd place Class 4A (1st 20-win season in school history)
2002-03 – 18-5, Sub State Finals
Total - 91-10

Head Girls' Basketball Coach – Wichita Independent High School
2001-02 – 18-4, Sub-State semifinalist (best record in school history)
2000-01 – 5-15
Total – 23-19

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