Colorado State University Athletics
Rams Add Kyley Bachand to Staff
9/14/2021 12:15:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Five-Year Assistant Coach Comes to Colorado State
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – A new face will be along the first bench spots at Colorado State women's basketball games as head coach Ryun Williams has announced new assistant coach Kyley Bachand to the coaching staff.
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"We are thrilled to add Kyley onto our staff," Williams said. "She is a highly-motivated individual that brings a lot of passion to coaching and will be able to connect well with our young student-athletes. As a player, she competed at a high level and that hard work has carried over to her coaching career."
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Bachand spent last season at Southern Methodist University and was at Eastern Illinois for three seasons prior to that including her last as the associate head coach. Her time in Dallas was short lived on the court since the Mustangs opted out of the season due to COVID-19 concerns in December after just six games. While at EIU, the Panthers improved each season and orchestrated the best two-year turnaround in the NCAA from 2017-18 to 2019-20 – all three of her seasons in Charleston, Ill. The win progression went from three (2017-18) to 11 (2018-19) to 19 (2019-20), making the nation's best two-year swing at +16 wins.
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Before EIU, Bachand landed her first coaching gig at the University of Sioux Falls for the 2016-17 season and proceeded to help guide the Cougars to a 22-8 record and an appearance in the conference tournament final. After the season, she was honored as one of the Women's Basketball Coaches' Associations' Thirty Under 30, an honor created to recognize 30 up-and-coming women's basketball coaches age 30 and under at all levels of the game.
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The former Kyley Simmons split her four-year playing career between Missouri and Illinois. She graduated an Illini in 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and then added a Master of Science in Recreation, Sport and Tourism a year later. On the court, she earned the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award in 2015, academic accolades in both the Big 10 and Southeastern Conference and averaged 12.3 points during her career. In her freshman year with the Tigers, she led the team in assists and was named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team, becoming the first MU player to receive such award.
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The Brookings, S.D. native went to Lewis high school in Council Bluffs, Iowa where she set records in career assists, single-season points and assists in addition to single-game points and assists. She married Seth Bachand this past summer.
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"Seth and I are excited for the opportunity to be a part of the Ram family," Bachand said. "It is an honor to get the chance to work beside Coach Williams and his staff. He has built an incredible program that I am proud to call home."
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For More on Colorado State Women's Basketball follow: Twitter – CSUWBasketball | Instagram – csuwbasketball | Facebook – @CSUWBasketball
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"We are thrilled to add Kyley onto our staff," Williams said. "She is a highly-motivated individual that brings a lot of passion to coaching and will be able to connect well with our young student-athletes. As a player, she competed at a high level and that hard work has carried over to her coaching career."
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Bachand spent last season at Southern Methodist University and was at Eastern Illinois for three seasons prior to that including her last as the associate head coach. Her time in Dallas was short lived on the court since the Mustangs opted out of the season due to COVID-19 concerns in December after just six games. While at EIU, the Panthers improved each season and orchestrated the best two-year turnaround in the NCAA from 2017-18 to 2019-20 – all three of her seasons in Charleston, Ill. The win progression went from three (2017-18) to 11 (2018-19) to 19 (2019-20), making the nation's best two-year swing at +16 wins.
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Before EIU, Bachand landed her first coaching gig at the University of Sioux Falls for the 2016-17 season and proceeded to help guide the Cougars to a 22-8 record and an appearance in the conference tournament final. After the season, she was honored as one of the Women's Basketball Coaches' Associations' Thirty Under 30, an honor created to recognize 30 up-and-coming women's basketball coaches age 30 and under at all levels of the game.
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The former Kyley Simmons split her four-year playing career between Missouri and Illinois. She graduated an Illini in 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and then added a Master of Science in Recreation, Sport and Tourism a year later. On the court, she earned the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award in 2015, academic accolades in both the Big 10 and Southeastern Conference and averaged 12.3 points during her career. In her freshman year with the Tigers, she led the team in assists and was named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team, becoming the first MU player to receive such award.
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The Brookings, S.D. native went to Lewis high school in Council Bluffs, Iowa where she set records in career assists, single-season points and assists in addition to single-game points and assists. She married Seth Bachand this past summer.
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"Seth and I are excited for the opportunity to be a part of the Ram family," Bachand said. "It is an honor to get the chance to work beside Coach Williams and his staff. He has built an incredible program that I am proud to call home."
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For More on Colorado State Women's Basketball follow: Twitter – CSUWBasketball | Instagram – csuwbasketball | Facebook – @CSUWBasketball
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