OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – For the second consecutive season, Johnson County Community College head women's basketball coach Ben Conrad has been selected the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association 2-Year Women's College Coach of the Year.
Johnson County Community College women's basketball head coach Ben Conrad has accumulated many awards and recognitions since taking over the program in 2008.
Three times he has been named National Coach of the Year. He has been selected the NJCAA District Coach of the Year six times, and Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Coach of the Year seven times, and twice KBCA 2-Year Women's Coach of the Year.
This year, Johnson County opened with 20 straight wins, and finished the regular season 28-1, capturing the KJCCC D-II title. His team went on to win the Region VI/Plains District title, defeating all three teams by double digits, and place fifth at the NJCAA D-II National Tournament. He also coached NJCAA, World Exposure Report and WBCA All-American and KJCCC D-II MVP in Kierra Prim, World Exposure Report All-American Jaylen Townsend and the KJCCC Freshman and Defensive Player of the Year in Nariyah Simmons. In all he had five total all-conference and All-Region/District selections and he was named the Conference Coach of the Year.
Conrad tenure boasts nine 30-win seasons, eight consecutively, a first in NJCAA women's basketball history, a NJCAA Division II National Championship and school record 34 wins (2015, 2022), two national runner-up finishes (2017, 2021) and four other NJCAA D-II Tournament appearances (2011, 2012, 2013, 2022) and seven KJCCC conference titles (2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2021, 2022). His teams have finished as the number one or number two ranked team in the country eight times and his teams have been ranked in the top 10 over 90 percent of his tenure, including a span of 98 consecutively. He also has held the No. 1 ranking 60 times, including all 12 polls in 2015-16, the first seven regular season polls in 2018-19, the final three weeks in 2020-21 and fives weeks in 2021-22.
He has coached 16 NJCAA All-Americans, 14 WBCA All-Americans, four World Exposure Report All-Americans, seven National All-Tournament selections including one MVP, 45 All-Region VI performers 46 All-Jayhawk Conference picks, five conference MVP selections, three conference Defensive Player of the Year, and two conference Freshmen of the Year selections. Off the court, he has had 19 student-athletes recognized for academic excellence by the NJCAA.
In 14 years at JCCC, Conrad has posted 66 wins over nationally ranked teams, including eight in 2016-17. Conrad also owns all 10 of the 10 longest wins streaks in team history, including a 43-game string that ran from Feb. 7, 2015 through March 3, 2016. Conrad also owns the top two home court winning streaks in program history, a 54-game streak that ran from Feb. 7, 2015 to Feb. 14, 2018 , a 46-game streak that ran from Jan. 24, 2011 to Jan. 22, 2014 and is currently riding a 35-game home court streak that began on Feb. 8, 2020.
Conrad's team annually are one of the top offensive teams in the NJCAA. In 14 seasons, his teams have defeated opponents by 10-or-more points 363 times. From Feb. 10, 2009 to January 7, 2011, JCCC recorded 54 consecutive double digit victories. He had another string of 46 straight that started February16, 2019 and ran until March 31, 2021, when the Lady Cavaliers defeated No. 8-ranked Labette by six points, 64-58.
Conrad also prides himself on coaching fundamentally sound defensive teams, and has had 13 of his 14 teams ranked in the top 10 nationally, including leading the nation six times. This year JCCC was third nationally allowing only 49.3 points per game.
Even more impressive, Conrad has helped 72 players of his players at Johnson County earn scholarships to four-year schools, including 24 at NCAA Division I programs. For his career, 87 players have earned scholarships, with 29 at NCAA D-I programs.