Head Coach Steve Eck

Steve Eck begins his first season as head coach.

Eck comes to Cowley from Redlands (Okla.) Community College where he led the Cougars to the 2001-02 NJCAA Division II national championship in his first year as head coach. During his second season, Redlands moved to the Division I level and won the Region II championship and advanced to the NJCAA Division I Tournament, making it the first time a school moved from Division II to Division I and made the National Tournament their first year.

In six years at Redlands, Eck compiled a record of 182 wins and only 22 losses. This past season, the Cougars finished 31-2 and were ranked No. 1 in the NJCAA poll for three weeks.

Overall, in 29 years as a head coach, Eck has a record of 590 wins and 78 losses.
Prior to coaching at Redlands, Eck went 80-22 in three years as head coach at Butler Community College. While at Butler, Eck guided his team to an eight-week hold on the top ranking in the national NJCAA poll, and was the first coach in school history to lead his team to a regional championship in his first two years.

Eck is probably most well known for the success he had prior to coaching at the junior college level as he led Wichita South High School to an incredible 10 consecutive Wichita City League titles from 1986-1996. During that time, Wichita South posted a staggering record of 227-15, including a 153-7 mark in league play. His teams reached the state Final Four eight consecutive seasons, winning six state championships.

Wichita South still holds the city league record of 51 straight consecutive wins in league action. Eck is listed as the highest winning percentage coach of high school coaches in the country with at least 200 wins.
Eck also served as the Associate Head Coach at NCAA Division I University of Missouri-Kansas City during the 1999-2000 season, where he helped revive the UMKC program.

UMKC was 8-22 prior to Eck’s arrival, and during Eck’s season as Associate Head Coach, UMKC posted a 16-12 overall record, including a 10-6 mark in conference play.

Along with his team's success on the court, Redlands had the highest team grade point average in NJCAA Division I four years (2001-02 to 2005-06) in a row. Also every sophomore Eck coached at Redlands graduated and received a scholarship to play at the next level.

Coach Eck can be reached at (620) 441-5221 or ecks@cowley.edu.

Assistant coach Yaphett King

Yaphett King begins his first season as assistant coach.
King also served as an assistant coach under first-year Tiger head basketball coach Steve Eck last season at Redlands Community College. At Redlands, he helped lead the Cougars to a record of 31-2.

After being an All-State performer at Lakewood High School in Florida, King played two years for coach Eck at Redlands. He was named an All-American as a freshman and was an All-Conference and All-Region selection both years at the school. He helped guide Redlands to its first ever national title and a record of 62-8 in his two years.

His efforts at Redlands landed him an opportunity to play at NCAA Division I California State-Fullerton. As a senior at California State-Fullerton, King earned Second-Team All-Conference Big West honors as he helped lead the team to the Sweet 16 round of the National Invitation Tournament.

King earned a sociology degree in 2005 and went on to play one season of professional basketball in Vienna, Austria. During his one season of pro ball, he helped Basket Clubs of Vienna win the Middle Division Playoffs.

Coach King can be reached at (620) 441-5227 or kingy@cowley.edu.

Assistant Coach Lance Madison

Lance Madison begins his first season as assistant coach.

Madison comes to Cowley from NCAA Division I school The University of Texas-Pan American. During the 2006-07 season Madison helped the Broncs improve from six wins the previous season to 14 wins. The eight win improvement was the biggest turnaround in the state of Texas for college basketball.

During the 2005-06 season Madison served on the coaching staff at the University of Texas at San Antonio. With the Roadrunners, he served as the recruiting coordinator of junior college prospects from the states of Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois and Iowa.

In his lone season at UTSA, Madison helped the Roadrunners qualify for the Southland Conference Tournament.

Prior to coaching at UTSA, Madison served three seasons as an associate head coach with current Tiger head coach Steve Eck at Redlands Community College in El Reno, Okla. Madison helped the Cougars post a stellar 94-9 record in his three seasons with the program, which included a runner-up honor at the NJCAA Division I National Championship game in 2004.

During his time at Redlands, he helped the program capture a trio of Bi-State West Conference Championships along with a pair of NJCAA National Tournament appearances and Region II crowns.

Madison spent five seasons at Olney Central College, a NJCAA Division I program in Olney, IL, from 1996-2002 where he served as an assistant men’s basketball coach and head women’s softball coach. The Knights posted 20 or more wins all five seasons.

He began his coaching career at Vincennes University, a NJCAA Division II program in Vincennes, IN, during the 1992-93 season. Madison previously played two seasons at Vincennes, where he led the team to a NJCAA National Tournament appearance as a sophomore. He later transferred to Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, where he was a two-year letterwinner and team captain as a senior.

Coach Madison can be reached at (620) 441-5566 or madisonl@cowley.edu.