Kissinger Set for “So You Want To Be A Coach”

Nebraska’s Taylor Kissinger is one of 32 aspiring women’s basketball student-athletes across all collegiate divisions to be invited to participate in the WBCA “So You Want To Be A Coach” program in 2021.

Kissinger, a senior student assistant for the 2020-21 Huskers, spent her first three seasons for the Huskers as one of the top shooters in school history. The 6-1 guard/forward from Minden, Neb., led the Big Ten Conference and tied the Nebraska record in three-point field goal percentage (.456) by hitting 62-of-136 threes as a sophomore in 2018-19. She averaged 8.9 points and 3.2 rebounds as a sophomore while making 24 starts. 

Her sophomore season followed a freshman campaign in which she averaged 10.0 points and 4.1 rebounds to help Nebraska to the 2018 NCAA Tournament as the nation’s most improved team from the 2016-17 season. Kissinger played in 25 games with seven starts for the Huskers as a true freshman.

Kissinger’s junior year was stalled by both a concussion and a hip injury, which eventually required season-ending surgery. Before being sidelined, Kissinger connected on a career-high-tying six three-pointers to finish with 19 points in a win over Duke (Dec. 4) at Pinnacle Bank Arena. She played in just five games as a junior. Kissinger elected to end her playing career prior to the start of the 2020-21 season because of lingering pain in her hip.

Off the court, Kissinger was a two-time Academic All-Big Ten choice and a seven-time member of the Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll. She is also a three-time selection to the Tom Osborne Citizenship Team.

The program offered by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) in partnership with WeCOACH will provide a one-day on-line workshop for Kissinger and the other 31 participants to increase their understanding and application of skills necessary to secure coaching positions in women’s basketball, increase the understanding and awareness of competencies necessary for success in coaching, introduce female basketball players to coaches and administrators, and raise awareness of the existing talent pool of female basketball players who have a passion and interest in coaching the game of women’s basketball.

The So You Want To Be A Coach program is the longest running education program the WBCA offers, and Nebraska women’s basketball players have an outstanding history in the program.

Since Coach Amy Williams‘ arrival at Nebraska prior to the 2016-17 season, Emily Wood (Wacker), Jasmine Cincore, Rachel Blackburn, Maddie Simon and Kristian Hudson have participated in the “So You Want To Be A Coach Program” and all five former Huskers secured jobs with collegiate programs.

Wood (Wacker) is an assistant coach at Missouri Western. Cincore is an assistant coach at Rogers State. Blackburn was an assistant coach at Adams State in 2019-20, and Simon was a graduate assistant at Memphis in 2019-20 before signing a professional contract to play in Germany. Kristian Hudson, Nebraska’s most recent participant in the program, was as an assistant at Graceland University in 2020-21.