WICHITA ? First-year Wichita State women's basketball head coach Jody Adams completed her coaching staff after announcing the addition of Kristy Guffey, Kerensa Barr and Carlai Moore as assistant coaches Monday afternoon.

Kristy Guffey joins the staff after spending the 2007-08 season as the recruiting coordinator at Missouri State.

"Kristy is one of the best recruiters in the game of women's college basketball," Adams said. "Her vision and ability to select successful student-athletes both on and off the floor will be a great addition to our program."

Guffey helped guide the turnaround of the Lady Bears' program that took them from last in the league in 2006-07, to a fifth-place finish last year, while her recruiting presence paid immediate dividends in Marisha Brown, who was named to the Missouri Valley Conference All-Freshman Team prior to the 2008 State Farm MVC Championship. The St. Louis, Mo., native also coordinated the development of the Lady Bear guards, which were honored with two all-conference selections in 2008.

Prior to her time at Missouri State, Guffey accumulated a 47-47 record as head coach at Fort Scott [Kan.] CC, and in 2006-07 led the Lady Greyhounds to a 22-10 record and a third-place finish in the Jayhawk Conference, the best single-season mark in school history. Keisha Walker, a 2007 NJCAA Division I Second Team All-American, was one of eight Division I players produced at FSCC by Guffey after signing with Texas Tech, proof that she had become one of the top recruiters in the Midwest.

Guffey's recruiting success is thanks in part to deep roots in both Kansas and Missouri after a highly successful run as a high school head coach in the Kansas City metro area. From 2000-04, she recorded a 74-29 record as head coach at Notre Dame de Sion High School, leading a turnaround that took the Storm from a losing season prior to her arrival to back-to-back state titles, garnering her Missouri Class 3A Coach of the Year honors in her first two seasons as a high school head coach. In her time at Notre Dame de Sion, she sent numerous players on to play collegiately, including Vanderbilt's Erica Grimaldi and Iowa State's Anna Florzak.

She graduated with a bachelor's degree in physical education from Missouri Valley College in 1997, and earned a master's degree in education from MidAmerica Nazarene University in 2000. Guffey began her coaching career at Meadville (Mo.) High School in 1997, serving as both girls' varsity and freshman boys' head coach for a year before taking the head varsity position at Turner High School in Kansas City, where she served also as assistant athletic director from 1998-2000.

Barr, a former University of Missouri point-guard begins her first season as assistant coach at Wichita State after following Jody Adams to WSU from Murray State.

"Kerensa's [pronounced Ker-EN-suh] background as a point-guard in the Big 12 Conference is invaluable," Adams said. "She has an extensive knowledge of the game, which will help guide any student-athlete that chooses Wichita State and will help our program maximize its ability to be successful."

Barr served as assistant coach at Murray State during the 2007-08 season, with responsibilities developing guards along with scouting opponents. Her recruiting duties included coordination of Murray State's 2009 recruiting class. Barr's experience had an immediate impact on the program, as the Racers finished 19th nationally in scoring last season, while finishing 25th nationally in three-point field-goal percentage. Barr helped guide the program to a school-record 24 wins and also helped lead junior guard Ashley Hayes to 2007-08 Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year honors. Hayes finished second among league players in scoring with more than 18 points per game, while also finishing third in the OVC in rebounding.

Junior guard Amber Guffey also earned first-team all-OVC honors under Barr's watch, after finishing third in the league in assists while leading the league and finishing third nationally with a 91.1-percent effort at the free-throw line. Guffey finished third among OVC scorers with 17.1 points per contest.

Prior to her time on the Murray State staff, Barr served as assistant coach for two seasons at her alma mater Missouri, where she maintained responsibilities as a guard and small forward coach, as well as assisting in recruiting and scouting. Barr helped coordinate strength and conditioning efforts with the strength coaches and also served as coordinator of all Missouri Women's Basketball Camps.

Following her graduation from Missouri in 2003 with bachelor's degrees in finance and banking and real estate, Barr served as a graduate assistant coach for the Tigers from 2004-05, where she also served as color radio analyst for Missouri women's basketball broadcasts. She earned her master's degree in business administration from Missouri in 2005.

As a player, at the time of her graduation, she held Mizzou career records in assists (489) as well as the school's best free-throw percentage, with an .812 at the stripe over her four-year career. She ranked second in career steals (242) and career three-point field-goals attempted (319) and third in career three-pointers made with 109. Barr held the top two single-season free-throw marks and had three of the top 10 single-season assists totals in Missouri history, while holding two of the top 10 single-season steals marks. She is a member of the Tigers' 1,000-point club, finishing her career ranked 17th with 1,186 career points.

In her time at Missouri, she was a team captain for three seasons ? including Mizzou's 2001 run to the NCAA "Sweet Sixteen" ? and was a member of the Big 12 All-Star European Tour. In 2001, she was invited to the USA basketball tryouts. A true student-athlete, she was a CoSIDA Academic All-American, earning Dean's List honors in all eight of her semesters at Missouri. She was a Sporting News/March of Dimes Socrates Award national finalist and a Women's Basketball Student-Athlete of the Year national semifinalist.

She came to Missouri after earning the highest honor a girls' basketball player can earn in the state, Miss Show-Me Basketball, as a senior at West Plains (Mo.) High School in 1999.

Former first-team all-Missouri Valley Conference performer Carlai (pronounced car-LAY-uh) Moore begins her first season as assistant coach at Wichita State after following Adams from Murray State as well.

"I think Carlai is a great addition to our staff," Adams said. "It's a true advantage to have a student-athlete who played for you on your staff, and her communication skills, leadership and work ethic will help breed success in this program."

While at Murray State, Moore helped guide the Racers to their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament. With a focus on post players, Moore guided center Angela Brown to a top 85 ranking nationally in blocked shots per game which was second among Ohio Valley Conference participants, while maintaining the third-best field-goal percentage among OVC players. Moore's playing experience in the interior also helped guide MSU to a top 26 ranking nationally with a .448 team field-goal percentage, which led all OVC teams.

Moore also served as a graduate assistant on the Murray State staff before being promoted to assistant coach in August 2007. She was also responsible for scouting opponents, assisting in all areas of recruiting and assisting with community service projects during her time at MSU.

The Kansas City, Kan., native became the first Saluki in nearly a decade to garner first team all-MVC honors after being named Valley Newcomer of the Year following the 2005-06 season, after transferring from UMKC when Jody Adams joined the staff there in 2004-05. Moore scored 17.6 points per game in her first season in Carbondale and connected on a league-best 54.8-percent of her shots. She again earned first team honors in 2006-07 after leading SIU with 13.5 points per game while shooting 56-percent from the field en route to helping the Salukis bring home their first outright league title in women's basketball since the 1986-87 season.

At Southern Illinois, she scored more points than any other transfer to the school, pouring in 890 points over 58 games in two seasons. Over her four seasons (at SIU and UMKC combined), she amassed 1,540 career points.

At UMKC, she was the then Mid-Continent Conference's sixth Woman of the Year in back-to-back seasons, named to the 2003 MCC All-Newcomer Team and 2004 All-MCC First Team. In 2003-04, she led the Kangaroos with 13.0 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, tying for second on the team with 61 assists. In 2002-03, Moore was second on the team with 9.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.

She earned her bachelor's degree in speech communication from Southern Illinois in 2007, and has served as a women's basketball camp instructor at both UMKC and SIU. Moore, 24, has one brother, Craig, and a younger sister Chalee.

--Wichita State--