The Kent State women’s basketball program was able to break through last season and earn their first trip to the NCAA tournament in 22 years. And they earned it, playing their best basketball on the big stage of the conference tournament in downtown Cleveland. They did it with continuity in their coaching staff and roster, extremely quality student athletes, and an exciting brand of basketball.
Those are some of the same reasons how the Golden Flashes have been able to cultivate a loyal fan following over the years. You may have witnessed the scene, or even participated in it yourself over the years. After every game, the players and coaches go into the crowd at the MAC Center to thank, and ultimately connect with their fans.
“I would love to say that was an original thought but I got that from my time at Indiana, Coach Moren had our players stay on the court after the game, win or lose,” KSU Head Coach Todd Starkey said back when I visited with him in July. “I think our players probably go into the stands a little bit more than we did at IU and that type of thing, although they’ve done a great job of developing their fan base there it’s unreal, I think it’s kind of a win win in my eyes, even after a loss its teaching character.”
Kent State fans of all ages are able to watch, follow and connect with the players and establish relationships. This helps them want to come back, combined with a very good product on the court. Starkey is the second-winningest coach in school history with 143 victories, including four against opponents from Power Five conferences. The Golden Flashes have five postseason tournaments with WNIT berths in 2017, 2019, 2022 and 2023. He has led the program to back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in 13 seasons.
“These people are excited to come and invest their time watching you and supporting you,” Starkey said. “There’s a give back there and I think it’s important but it also like you said develops that with a lot of it maybe just a surface area relationship but our fans think they feel, have a better level of understanding of who they are. They’ve met them, they talk with them. You got young kids who are coming to the games, getting autographs after the game, they feel like they’re connected on those levels with our players and once again, that goes back to the retention piece too.”
Speaking of retention, that’s huge. Players in the women’s program are staying. Kent State is one of 19 programs in the country to not have a single player leave following last season. Fans get to learn their story, and invest in them, as the player invests in the program.
“Our players are staying for…Katie (Shumate) was here for five years. She got to know a lot of our fans. We’ve got seniors this year that have gotten to know our fans for four years now and that connection has a lot to do with why women’s basketball seems to be really reaching fan bases and really taking off the way that the men have kind of lost a little but of that because there’s so many players that are just transferring so quickly around the country and your fan base never gets to know a team, a roster or at the higher levels, one and dones so I think there’s something to that relationship, player/fan relationship that really lends itself to growth in your fanbase.”
Kent State opens their 2024-2025 season at home on November 4 by hosting James Madison. Starkey has made it clear that his team isn’t defending their MAC title. They are in pursuit of another one. But they will be fiercely defending their home court all season. And win or lose, they’ll head in the crowd after to connect and thank their fans young and old that they’ve worked so hard to cultivate under Starkey.