Steve Lutz, who led Texas A&M-CC to back-to-back NCAA tournaments, named WKU basketball coach

Western Kentucky has named Steve Lutz its new men's basketball coach.

The school announced Lutz's hire Saturday afternoon. Stadium's Jeff Goodman reported the deal is for four years.

Lutz, the 16th head coach in program history, led Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to back-to-back Southland Conference Tournament championships — plus the 2022-23 regular-season title — and NCAA Tournament appearances.

The Islanders had four straight losing seasons before Lutz's arrival, including a 5-19 campaign in 2020-21. They went 23-12 in his first season and won the conference title. The Islanders went 24-11 this season, repeated as SLC champs and won their NCAA Tournament play-in game against Southeast Missouri State before losing Thursday to top-seeded Alabama 96-75.

"I am very excited and appreciative of the opportunity to be the next head coach at Western Kentucky," Lutz said in a statement. "This is a storied program with a rich history of success. Our teams will wear the WKU uniform with pride and represent the Hilltopper Nation in everything we do. I look forward to meeting our players, and our family is looking forward to joining the Bowling Green community. Go Tops!"