Western Michigan on new basketball coach: 'Vision and leadership unmatched'

Kalamazoo, Mich. — Western Michigan University moved swiftly to secure what athletic director Dan Bartholomae calls “a rising star,” officially naming Kahil Fennell the 17th head coach of Broncos men’s basketball on Saturday morning.

The 43-year-old Californian arrives from the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, where over two seasons he engineered a 35-29 turnaround that included a 19-14 campaign this winter and the Vaqueros’ first Southland Conference tournament No. 3 seed since 2018-19. Fennell’s 2024-25 squad led the league in scoring and finished fourth in defensive efficiency, bowing out in triple-overtime to eventual NCAA representative McNeese.

“As we set out to find our next head coach, we sought a leader who not only had experience working with some of basketball’s finest programs and coaches, but one who had also led his own program to new heights at the Division I level,” Bartholomae said. “His vision and leadership acumen was unmatched.”

The search, completed in under two weeks, comes at a pivotal moment for WMU athletics. A $500-million, 8,000-seat arena—destined to host both basketball programs and the 2025 national-champion hockey team—opens next fall, and Bartholomae emphasized the need for a coach capable of galvanizing campus and community alike. Fennell will be introduced Monday at the construction site, touring the facility for the first time hours after signing a five-year deal that starts near $400,000 and escalates to roughly $500,000 by Year 5. The agreement carries a $300,000 buyout.

Fennell’s path to Division I head coach is unconventional. Barely a decade ago he was earning a lucrative living in medical-device sales before pivoting to the bench. Stops as an assistant at Portland State, UT Permian Basin, Louisville—where he helped the Cardinals to NCAA tournament berths under Chris Mack—and BYU under Mark Pope preceded his head-coaching debut at UTRGV. There, he inherited a six-win outfit and promptly delivered 16 victories in Year 1, followed by this season’s 19-win breakout.

“I am incredibly grateful for their support and excited to work alongside them towards our collective goal of building a championship program,” Fennell said, thanking president Russ Kavalhuna, Bartholomae and deputy AD Elaine Russell. “My family and I are also thrilled to be joining the Kalamazoo community.”

He takes over a program that has not posted a winning record since 2017-18 and finished 10-21 this season under since-dismissed D.J. Stephens. The Broncos’ drought without an NCAA tournament berth stretches to 2014. By contrast, WMU athletics has soared elsewhere: the hockey program captured the 2025 national title, and the football team claimed the Mid-American Conference crown the same year.

Fennell, a finalist for the Ben Jobe Award given to the nation’s top minority Division I head coach, will inherit a roster eligible to compete in the new arena’s debut campaign. His wife, Sarah, a former Dayton basketball player, and their children will relocate to Michigan this spring.

Western Michigan was hardly alone in rebooting its basketball leadership. Eastern Michigan introduced Clemson assistant Billy Donlon this week, continuing a MAC-wide coaching overhaul that now includes Fennell among its most intriguing hires.

Construction cranes hover over Kalamazoo’s campus, but the newest Bronco believes the program’s foundation will be built on relationships. “It’s a tremendous time to be a part of this university,” Fennell said, “and my staff and I cannot wait to get started.”