Toni Gross is in her fifth season as an assistant coach with the Lady Blues. Gross came to Washburn from Barton County after she helped guide the Cougars to back to back Regional VI Finals during the 2005 and 2006 campaigns. At Washburn, Gross will be the lead recruiter for the Lady Blues while managing team workouts, team travel and game preparation.
The Parsons, Kan. native began her coaching career at Tyler Junior College where she coached former Lady Blues Juwanna Rivers and Nikki Holmes. During the 2002-03 season, Tyler finished in the top five at the NJCAA National Tournament. During the 2003-04 season, Gross was an assistant coach at Jayhawk West rival Pratt Community College. During that season, Pratt made it to the Region VI quarterfinals where the Beavers lost by two points to eventual Region VI Champion Seward County.
Prior to her coaching career, Gross had a standout career as a basketball player. After a successful prep career at Parsons where she set and still holds several prep records, Gross played at Labette Community College for two years where she set and still holds numerous Jayhawk records including scoring 57 points in one game against Neosho.
After receiving All-American honors at Labette, Gross moved on to Louisiana State University where she was a two-year starter and an All-Southeast Conference selection for the Tigers. After her career at LSU ended, Gross played professionally overseas for two seasons in Italy.
