As has always been the case in the coaching carousel, some coaches need to get replaced because they couldn’t get the job done, and some need to get replaced because they very much got the job done.
Chris Kielsmeier absolutely falls into the latter category. With his continued success over an eight-year period at Cleveland State, it seemed liked it was only a matter of time before another school came calling. And on Monday, one did. Texas State, which is preparing to make the jump from the Sun Belt to the PAC-12, announced Kielsmeier’s hiring. While the Bobcats (not the Armadillos, for all you fans of the 1990s movie Necessary Roughness) will get a proven winner, CSU will be in the position of finding a new head coach.
And the expectations, understandably, will be high. Kielsmeier’s tenure featured six straight post-season appearances, including an NCAA Tournament bid in 2023. And he succeeded Kate Peterson Abiad (now an assistant coach at Green Bay), whose one track record with the Vikings included two NCAA Tournament appearances.
So, where does Cleveland State go from here? Here are some names that could potentially continue CSU’s reputation as a perennial powerhouse in the Horizon League.
Steve Lanpher, Assistant Coach, Cleveland State
If CSU wants to keep things in-house, the first direction it can turn is to Lanpher, who came on board as an assistant for the 2025-26 season. He shares Kielsmeier’s defensive philosophy, and he’s been a head coach on every level of the collegiate ranks. That includes Division I, when he was at the helm of am NJIT program that was wandering through the transition from Division II and playing in the cobbled-together Great West Conference. His recent stop was with Division III Randolph College, compiled 72 wins during his tenure.
Kari Pickens, Head Coach, Ashland
Over the years, schools have dug into the non-Division I ranks to identify coaches with potentially huge upside. That’s effectively how Kielsmeier came to be hired at Cleveland State, and it paid huge dividends. CSU could certainly tap into that well once again, and the best possible candidate happens to be down I-71 in Ashland. Pickens is in her 13th season with the Eagles, and her eighth in the top job. During that time, she’s amassed a higher winning percentage than any other coach in the NCAA…in all divisions. This includes an undefeated national championship in 20222-23. The question with Pickens is not whether she’ll get a Division I opportunity, but when. And Cleveland State presents the perfect chance to make that transition.
Semeka Randall, Head Coach, Winthrop
Few local basketball stars shined as a brightly as Randall did, taking her dominance in high school to the big stage in college, playing for Pat Summitt at Tennessee. More importantly for our purposes, when she turned her attention to coaching, even as she played in the WNBA with the San Antonio Silver Stars, she landed a spot as one of Peterson Abiad’s first assistant coaches. Since then, she’s had head coaching stops at Ohio, Alabama A&M and currently, Winthrop. Is the prospect of coming home, specifically to the place she got her coaching career started, something that would appeal to Randall? We’ll see.
Special Jennings, Head Coach, Jacksonville
Jennings capped off her third year at the helm of the Dolphins with their first NCAA Tournament appearance in a decade. Not only is she a native of Cleveland, but she cut her teeth in the Horizon League, starting in 2013-13 under Wright State head coach Mike Bradbury (A staff that included current Cincinnati head coach Katrina Meriweather), then at UIC from 2018-2020, when the Flames were still in the HL. While much of her experience between those stops have primarily been in the state of Florida, that would certainly allow CSU to further expand its sphere of influence in recruiting.
Mike Williams, Head Coach, Grand Valley State
Like Pickens, Williams has established himself as one of the best head coaches in the Division II ranks. He’s already amassed over 300 wins with the Lakers, including back-to-back NCAA championships in 2024-25 and 2025-26. In fact, the only time GVSU didn’t win more than 20 games under Williams was the COVID-shortened 2020-21 campaign, and that squad still make the NCAA Tournament. Since 2021, the Lakers have won over 30 games. And that’s just one part of Williams’ resume. He tallied 130 wins at NAIA Davenport and built the Finlandia program in Division III from the ground up. His experience also includes his first season as a college assistant at Michigan Tech, under a guy named Kevin Borseth.
Ke’Sha Blanton, Assistant Coach, Tulane
Of the possible candidates listed, few likely know the ins and outs of the Horizon League better than Blanton, who has been an assistant at both Detroit Mercy and Oakland. In the latter role, she took over as interim head coach on two occasions for Jeff Tungate, who was sidelined for health reasons, and led the Golden Grizzlies in a pair of upsets in the 2022 Horizon League Tournament. Now an assistant with Tulane, perhaps the time has come for her to return to the Horizon League and, more importantly, her home state of Ohio.
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