Favorite Verse: For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” - Esther 4:14
Katie Novak-Lenoir was announced as the UMHB Head Women's Basketball Coach on April 19, 2023. She guided the Cru to a 21-7 record in her first season the helm, advancing to the ASC Championship and earning an at-large bid to the NCAA National Championship Tournament. Novak-Lenoir helped the Cru to a 17-win season during her second year, including a win over No. 2 Wartburg, marking the highest-ranking regular-season win in program history.
Novak-Lenoir came to UMHB after a one-year stint at NCAA Division II Hawai'i Pacific University. In her first season with the Sharks, she led her team to a quarterfinal finish in the PacWest Conference Tournament with 12 wins in league play. Her team also earned the program's highest-ever grade-point average (3.756) and recorded a 100% graduation rate of the senior class. Novak-Lenoir also coached the PacWest Conference Player and Newcomer of the Year, Abby Spurgin, who was a two-time all-American and served as an assistant coach for the Cru.
Prior to HPU, Novak-Lenoir served as the head women's basketball coach at American Southwest Conference affiliate Sul Ross State University for five seasons. Novak-Lenoir averaged more wins per season than any other coach in Lobo Women's Basketball history and was named ASC West Division Coach of the Year in 2021. Her teams advanced to two ASC postseason tournaments and won the program's first win in a championship tournament with a semifinal appearance in 2021. Novak-Lenoir's rosters also included 12 all-conference athletes, 14 academic all-ASC recipients, two ASC Newcomers of the Year, one ASC Player of the Year and one WBCA All-America selection. She also led the Lobos to a 3.3 or higher GPA for five consecutive years and graduated 100% of her senior classes. In addition to coaching women's basketball, she also served as Senior Woman Administrator and Student Athlete-Advisory Committee sponsor at SRSU.
Novak-Lenoir opened her collegiate career as head assistant coach and strength coach at Our Lady of the Lake University. She coached three all-Americans and helped her team to a national number one ranking during her three seasons with the Saints.
Novak-Lenoir was a starter and team captain for two seasons of women's basketball at Saint Joseph's College before transferring to University of Incarnate Word, serving as team captain for two seasons and playing her final year in the inaugural Division I class for the Cardinals. She received a Bachelor of Science in Sport Management from Saint Joseph's and a Master's of Science in Sport Management from Incarnate Word. Katie also has her CSC Certification. She and her husband, William, have two children, Walker and Arlis.
Coach Novak-Lenoir’s Accolades (Head Coach, 2024-present)
ASC Regular Season Championships: 1
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 1
All-American Athletes Coached: 1
All-Region Athletes Coached: 1
All-ASC Athletes Coached: 10
ASC Superlative Winners: 2
