Darin Spence is entering his ninth year as the head coach of the Newman women’s basketball program in 2020-21.
Spence has compiled a 594-353 record as a head women’s basketball coach over a 30-year span across NCAA Division I and Division II, NAIA, and NJCAA schools. His seven years with the Jets have seen him amass a record of 106-90 overall and a 59-53 mark in Heartland Conference play.
Under Spence’s tenure, the Jets reached the Heartland Conference tournament in six of his seven seasons, 11 players have achieved all-conference honors, with Alex Ciabattoni (2012-2013) earning freshman of the year and player of the year awards in 2012-13 and 2013-14 and Faith Mason-Vestal earning freshman of the year honors in 2018-2019, respectively.
The Jets recorded their third straight winning season in 2018-2019 posting an overall record of 21-10 and a conference mark of 10-4 – both career bests for the eighth year head coach. Newman earned a pair of runner-up finishes in both the Heartland Conference regular-season and Heartland Conference tournament, falling just outside their first NCAA Tournament selection since the 2011-2012 season. On Feb. 14, Spence became the first coach in the programs Division II history to secure 100 wins in a career with an 80-71 victory over St. Mary’s. Newman knocked off nationally-ranked and eventual national champion Lubbock Christian 69-67 on Feb. 21 notching their second straight season with a win over a nationally ranked opponent.
In 2017-18, NU finished 17-12 and 8-6 in Heartland Conference play despite a brutal nonconference schedule. Newman topped nationally-ranked Emporia State on Nov. 20, and wound up finishing fourth in the conference standings behind two-time first-team all-conference performer Hannah Alexander.
The 2016-17 edition the Jets ran off 10 straight victories in nonconference play and finished the season with 19 wins and a second straight postseason appearance.
Spence’s pedigree spreads beyond Newman as well. Prior to coming to Wichita, he spent one 18-13 season at Barton County Community College, and that immediately followed eight years leading Division I New Mexico State. With the Aggies, Spence rolled up 109 victories and took the team to three consecutive WAC tournament championship games from 2005-06 to 2007-08, including a 23-9 season and third-place finish in the conference in that final season.
Prior to his time in New Mexico, Spence spent six years as the head coach at Cowley County Community College, amassing a superb record of 171-26 over those six seasons from 1997-98 to 2001-03, earning five Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference East Division titles and appearances in four NJCAA Region VI championship games. His .868 winning percentage at Cowley is the highest in the history of the program, and he was named Jayhawk East Coach of the Year four times in his six years.
Spence's coaching career started at his alma mater, Marymount College, in Salina, Kansas. The 1985 graduate spent three years coaching there, including a 29-7 record in his first and only season as head coach in 1987-88. He spent the next five seasons as the head coach at Butler County Community College, where he recorded a 117-47 record with two Jayhawk West titles and a pair of trips to the NJCAA Region VI finals. He then transitioned to the men's game, where he spent two seasons as an assistant at Cowley and two seasons as a head coach at Colby Community College.
Spence has four children. Sierra, Madison — who played for Spence at New Mexico State — Sacia, and Drake.
