Christopher Lamb
Head Volleyball Coach
Wichita State University
When Chris Lamb arrived in Wichita in 2000 to become the new head volleyball coach at Wichita State, the women's volleyball program had been in place since 1974. Over that time, however, there had been a very limited amount of success: WSU had never won a conference title, had never been to the NCAA Tournament, and the program had experienced eight consecutive non-winning seasons.
It is safe to assume, based on that history, that expectations for Shocker volleyball were relatively modest, but Coach Lamb, over his 25-year tenure, has taken the program to unprecedented heights and accomplished things almost certainly thought to be unattainable, prior to his arrival. Under "Lambo's" guidance, WSU has averaged 22 wins per year, winning just under 70% of its matches, has won numerous conference championships, has made 12 NCAA Tournament appearances, and has produced 11 All-Americans.
That level of success, and the education of the public to what an exciting sport women's college volleyball can be, has created a significant fall sport to follow at a school which doesn't have football. Wichita State is consistently among the top 20 schools in the nation in women's volleyball attendance, and in 2017, WSU was selected, for the first time in history, to host first and second-round matches in the NCAA Tournament. The average attendance for those matches was the second-highest among all the 16 regionals.
More important, in my mind, than all of those accomplishments, however, is how Coach Lamb has achieved them. He is known throughout the volleyball world as a coach who is able to recognize potential in student athletes who are often not highly recruited and then develop them to the best of whatever abilities they have. When Abbie Lehman was a senior at Newton High School, her only scholarship offers were from a couple of Division II schools in basketball. Lambo convinced her to go with volleyball and then turned her into a three-time All-American and Shocker Hall of Famer. A member of the current team, Brooklyn Leggett, was not even a starter at her Division II school, but will almost certainly be a all-conference player this year for the Shockers.
In 50 years of broadcasting college athletics, I have been fortunate to be around and work with a number of outstanding coaches, but none were ever as unique and creative in the way they prepare their teams as Coach Lamb. When Wichita State was about to face Texas in the NCAA Tournament, the Longhorns presented an outside hitter, Destiny Hooker, who was a four-time NCAA high jump champion. Coach Lamb built a large wooden box, put it on one side of the net and had an assistant coach hit balls off of it because it was the only way to simulate the hitting angle and velocity his players would be facing. He is known for creating drills, which he makes up himself, with creative names like "man against world" to help his players improve in various aspects of play, while also making it fun. Many of his players I have come to know over the years have told me they couldn't wait to see what "Lambo" would come up with next.
The title of this award seems to me to signify someone who has been a molder and shaper of young people for over 25 years at WSU. Chris Lamb is a great coach, by any standard evaluation, but also an educator, a molder and shaper, a "Bender of Twigs", and I am proud and honored to have the opportunity to present him for this award.
Mike Kennedy
Play-by-play broadcaster for WSU athletics