Western Kentucky head coach Rick Stansbury resigns after seven seasons

Rick Stansbury has resigned after seven seasons as head coach at Western Kentucky, the school announced. Stansbury went 139-89 overall, winning a C-USA title in 2021 but failing to reach the NCAA Tournament during his tenure.

“After giving this much thought, I have made the decision that I need to step away as head coach at Western Kentucky,” Stansbury said in a statement. “This past season has been a challenging one, and I need some time to step away from things and focus on my health and my family. This is a very difficult decision but the right one.”

“While we did not reach our highest goals,” he continued, “I feel very good about what was achieved over the last seven years. We had many meaningful wins that brought national attention to our program and brought excitement back to Diddle Arena.”

Stansbury was hired in 2016 after spending the previous two seasons on staff at Texas A&M. Before that, he was the head coach at Mississippi State for 14 seasons, where he led the Bulldogs to six NCAA Tournaments and five SEC titles.

Stansbury is the first non-interim head coach in program history to have not taking the team to any NCAA Tournaments. The Toppers last played in the Big Dance in 2013.

credit to Western Kentucky Athletics for the image