UTEP Women’s Basketball Coaching Staff Finalized by Kevin Baker

After assistant coaches Michael Madrid and Kayla Weaver were hired at Texas A&M-Kingsville, and with the news of Lori Morris resigning from the program, UTEP women's basketball head coach Kevin Baker was tasked to hire three new bench coaches in anticipation for the upcoming season.

Baker, who is entering his third season as the head coach of the program, told us on 600 ESPN that he had fielded a ton of interest for the assistant coaching spots throughout the past weeks. Today, Baker announced the trio of coaches hired to the team—Todd Buchanan (associate head coach), Anthony Anderson (assistant coach and director of player development) and Heather Karner (assistant coach and recruiting coordinator).

UTEP needed its new coaches going into the fall, which makes this period during the summer perfect for the current players to get acclimated to the new assistant coaches.

From UTEP Athletics: 

Todd Buchanan

Buchanan brings over 25 years of coaching and teaching experience to the Sun City. Most recently an assistant coach at Arkansas State, he was the head coach at Houston from 2010-13.

“I am very pleased that we are bringing Todd to El Paso,” Baker said. “He has a wealth of experience as a head coach and as a top assistant. Todd has had a very successful career and it is due to his ability to coach on the floor, recruit at a very high level, and graduate his players. Todd is known all over the country and has a great reputation as a quality coach. We are very fortunate to add him to our staff.”

Buchanan’s first season at Houston (2010-11) produced an NCAA Tournament at-large bid and an undefeated record (16-0) in Conference USA. He coached two-time C-USA Player of the Year Courtney Taylor, as well as first-team all-league honorees Porsche Landry and Brittney Scott during his stint with the Cougars. He was recognized as the C-USA Coach of the Year, WBCA Region 4 Coach of the Year, and was a National Coach of the Year finalist in 2011.

Buchanan was also Associate Head Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at Houston from 2000-05, when he coached top-10 WNBA Draft picks Chandi Jones (2004) and Sancho Lyttle (2005). He signed three top-50 recruiting classes and two top-25 recruiting classes during this period and was a part of four postseason tournament teams.

In-between his two separate tenures with the Cougars, he was the head coach at Houston Baptist (2005-10) where he transitioned the program to NCAA Division I status. His teams reached the Elite Eight and Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament while achieving national rankings of as high as sixth. He led the Huskies to two postseason tournaments while enjoying a 98-game conference homecourt win streak at one time. He also coached 13 All-Americans, honorable mention All-Americans and Academic All-Americans while at HBU, including first team All-American Jere Adams.

After leaving Houston a second time, Buchanan was the head coach at Allen Community College (2015-18) while doubling as an Assistant Athletic Director and Fundraising Specialist. He returned to the Division I ranks as an assistant coach at Arkansas State this past season.

Buchanan’s other coaching stops included Murray State (assistant coach, 1992-95), Oral Roberts (assistant coach, 1995-96), University of Montevallo (head coach, 1996-98) and East Carolina (assistant coach, 1998-00). He helped assemble a top-60 recruiting class at East Carolina, and a top-100 class at Oral Roberts.

He got his start in coaching at two different high schools in the state of Kentucky. He was the assistant varsity boys coach and head freshman coach at Lyon County High School in Eddyville from 1989-92. His teams won two district championships, three conference titles and garnered a runner-up regional finish. Buchanan was also a part of a district championship team at Murray High School in 1989. He graduated from Murray State with a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education and Psychology in 1995.

Anthony Anderson

Anderson comes to El Paso from UTRGV, where he was an assistant coach since 2014. He was a part of the school’s record-breaking run from 2014-17 as UTRGV posted back-to-back-to-back 19-win seasons and three consecutive postseason tournament trips (2015 WBI, 2016 WNIT, 2017 WBI). UTRGV added an 18-victory campaign and another WBI berth in 2019. UTRGV’s 2014-15 campaign produced the first winning season (19-15) in school annals.

“Anthony has worked very hard in his career to recruit and coach his way up the ladder,” Baker said. “He is becoming known as one of the best and brightest young coaches in the country. Anthony is a relentless recruiter and has a proven track record of signing high quality players. He will be an asset to our program as a recruiter and in player development. Anthony is the son of a coach and comes from a great coaching background. We welcome both Anthony and his fiancé, Jasmine, to the Borderland.”

While at UTRGV, Anderson transitioned WAC Player of the Year Shawnte’ Goff from small forward to point guard during the 2015-16 season. She concluded her career rated no. 2 in school history with 336 assists. A first team All-District, second team All-Area, Offensive MVP and Academic All-District honoree, she is currently playing for the Czech Republic. Another of Anderson’s protégés was T’Ondria Nolen, who developed into one of the top point guards in the WAC. She led the league in assist/turnover ratio (2.08) and recorded 131 assists, the third-most in school history, during the 2014-15 season.

Anderson was associate head men’s coach at Paul Quinn College, an NAIA school, from 2011-12. He was an assistant men’s coach at Lamar State, an NJCAA program, from 2012-14.

He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Studies from FIU in 2011, and his Masters in Sports Science and Compliance from the United States Sports Academy in 2013.

Heather Karner

Karner most recently was an assistant coach at Central Arkansas during the 2018-19 season. She previously was an assistant at Northwest Kansas Technical College (2015-16) and a graduate assistant coach at Tulane (2016-18).

“Heather has been very busy in her young career,” Baker said. “She played college basketball, played professionally, coached at the high school level, coached in junior college, and coached at the Division I level. She has gained a wealth of experience in a very short period of time. Heather is a highly motivated young lady that has proven to be a passionate recruiter. She will be a very valuable member of our

coaching staff, and I look for her to move up the ranks of college coaching quickly.”

A jack of all trades, Karner has been involved with all aspects of a collegiate program during her young career including on-floor workouts, recruiting, scouting, strength and conditioning, summer camps, academics and compliance. She began her career as an assistant women’s varsity coach at Lutheran High School South in St. Louis from 2008-09.

Karner also played professionally in Germany from 2010-13 and was the leading scorer and team captain for SG Weiterstadt during the 2014-15 season. While abroad, she also coached numerous boys and girls youth basketball teams.

Karner played at Western Nebraska Community College and Youngstown State. She achieved her Associate of Science degree in May of 2006 at Western Nebraska, and her Bachelor of General Studies in May of 2008 at Youngstown State. She completed work on her Master of Liberal Arts at Tulane in May of 2018.