Wichita State University outfielder Lauren Lucas started college planning to work on the business side of professional sports. Five years later, she plans to coach softball in college.
She changed course in part due to a shoulder injury that took her off the field and into the dugout as a coach.
In the summer of 2023, she helped coach a youth team in Texas while she took time off from playing to rest her shoulder. In 2024, shoulder surgery sidelined her during Wichita State’s season. She dove into a role as an unofficial assistant coach, specializing in hitting.
Both roles taught her that she enjoyed working with young people and wanted to stay in the game. WSU coach Kristi Bredbenner and associate head coach Elizabeth Economon endorsed the plan.
“I had a conversation with Coach B last year,” Lucas said. “She said ‘You have to coach. I know you. You have to coach.’ If one of the best coaches I’ve ever played for thinks I would be a great coach, that speaks volumes to me.”
Lucas, who is working on her master’s degree in sport management, is a two-time Easton/NFCA All-America Scholar Athlete.
She will stay with WSU next year to work as a graduate assistant. Economon is excited to have another person to help with hitters.
“She’ll be great at it,” Economon said. “She does it (hitting) at such a high level and has a good understanding of it.”
Lucas, from Little Elm, Texas, will end her career as one of the top hitters in Shocker history. This season, she leads the team with a .396 batting average and 41 runs batted in.
She earned Softball America third team All-American honors and all-conference honors in 2023 after hitting .384 with 62 RBI, second-most in WSU history.
Wichita State completes its regular season schedule with a game Wednesday (April 30) against Kansas at Wilkins Stadium and this weekend at Memphis. The American Athletic Conference Championship begins May 7 in Tampa, Fla.
Read more about Lauren Lucas career at WSU and her future in softball
About Wichita State University
Wichita State University is Kansas' only urban public research university, enrolling more than 23,000 students between its main campus and the WSU Campus of Applied Sciences and Technology (WSU Tech), including students from every state in the U.S. and more than 100 countries. Wichita State and WSU Tech are recognized for being student-centered and innovation-driven.
Located in the largest city in the state with one of the highest concentrations in the United States of jobs involving science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), Wichita State University provides uniquely distinctive and innovative pathways of applied learning, applied research and career opportunities for all of our students. The National Science Foundation ranked WSU No. 1 in the nation for aerospace engineering R&D, No. 2 for industry-funded engineering R&D and No. 8 overall for engineering R&D.
The Innovation Campus, which is a physical extension of the Wichita State University main campus, is one of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing research/innovation parks, encompassing over 120 acres and is home to a number of global companies and organizations.
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