Photo by: Luke White
Wildcats Complete Coaching Staff With Three Additions
6/24/2026 9:57:00 AM | Women's Basketball
ABILENE - Abilene Christian women's basketball made three additions to its coaching staff, head coach Julie Goodenough announced this week. Keanna Keys joins the Wildcats as an assistant coach, while Kelsey Ground heads to Abilene as an assistant coach and director of basketball operations alongside graduate assistant coach Thomas Granado.
The hires round out ACU's coaching staff with assistant coaches Tatum Veitenheimer and Chris Garcia returning for their third seasons with the Wildcats. Veitenheimer was elevated to recruiting coordinator this offseason, while Garcia serves as creative recruiting coordinator.
"We are very grateful and excited to add Coach Keys, Coach Ground and Coach Thomas to our staff!" Goodenough said. "They have the experience and skill sets that I was searching for in the hiring process and exude qualities to allow them to be awesome ambassadors for ACU. This group collectively brings enthusiasm and energy to our program and will be great assets for us as we move into a new conference this season. It is an exciting time to be a Wildcat!"
ACU is coming off its second consecutive WNIT Super 16 appearance, marking its deepest postseason run in the Division I era. The Wildcats went 24-11 for their most wins since 2019-20 and most home victories this century. ACU advanced to the Western Athletic Conference title game with a 13-5 mark in conference play.
Keys makes her way to the Big Country after spending this past season as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Southeastern in the Southland Conference. The Lions ranked fifth in the SLC in made three-pointers per game (6.1) and turnover margin. Five student-athletes landed on the conference's All-Academic Team.
From 2020-25. Keys served as an assistant coach at UT Rio Grande Valley, where she specialized in post player development. In her final year in Edinburg, Texas, the Vaqueros had their winningest season since 2018-19. Keys mentored six All-Conference honorees at UTRGV. In 2024-25, UTRGV led the SLC in opposing three-point percentage (.274) and ranked third in made threes per game (7.1). It was third in the WAC in offensive rebounds (14.0) in 2022-23.
"I have observed Coach Keys' professionalism and positive attitude for years while she was at UTRGV," Goodenough said. "She has coached under two head coaches that I have the utmost respect for, Lane Lord and Jeff Dow, and know that she has been trained and mentored very well. Coach Keys will be working with our post position group and will serve as our academic coordinator as well as our director of analytics. She has seamlessly joined our tight-knit Wildcat family."
Keys got her career started as the athletic director at Immaculate Heart of Mary School in Towson, Md. from 2018-20. She played basketball at Little Rock from 2013-18, powering the Trojans to three Sun Belt Conference titles. In Keys' final season, she landed on the All-Sun Belt Third Team. She graduated with her Bachelor's degree in health and exercise science education in 2017 before earning her Bachelor's in criminal justice in 2018. While in school, Keys cut her teeth in coaching at the AAU level.
Ground served as an assistant coach and graduate assistant at Tarleton State in 2025-26, where she aided with recruiting efforts, practices, workouts and scouting. The Texans received three All-WAC honors and advanced to the conference tournament semifinals.
"Just a few minutes into the interview with Coach Ground, I could tell that she was organized, driven, hard working, intelligent and a problem solver," Goodenough said. "These are definitely necessary characteristics for coordinating travel in a new conference and in overseeing purchasing for our program. She has already proven to be a great addition with her behind-the-scenes efforts on our summer camps."
Ground was a basketball student-athlete at the University of the Ozarks in Clarksville, Ark. from 2023-25. Off the court, she served as the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee director of social media and was a student assistant for the Ozarks volleyball team. Ground was also an operations associate for Game On Arena Sports while earning her Bachelor's in marketing in 2025.
Granado graduated from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in May with his Bachelor's in sport management. There, he assisted the women's basketball program as a student manager and a video coordinator intern. Granado supported the team's daily operations and travel preparation. He worked alongside the Islanders' coaching staff with practice drills, scout team responsibilities and player development activities.
"Coach Thomas was given a great variety of responsibilities at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi by his head coach, who is one of my longtime coaching friends, Royce Chadwick," Goodenough said. "Some of his duties will include supervising our student managers, assisting with team travel, serving in skill development workouts and helping both of our recruiting coordinators."
Granado assisted the program's video staff with opponent scouting, film breakdown and tracking player performance data. He also served as a deputy athletic director intern within the department, where he helped develop the organization's yearly calendar and assisted in scheduling coordination of athletic events.
The hires round out ACU's coaching staff with assistant coaches Tatum Veitenheimer and Chris Garcia returning for their third seasons with the Wildcats. Veitenheimer was elevated to recruiting coordinator this offseason, while Garcia serves as creative recruiting coordinator.
"We are very grateful and excited to add Coach Keys, Coach Ground and Coach Thomas to our staff!" Goodenough said. "They have the experience and skill sets that I was searching for in the hiring process and exude qualities to allow them to be awesome ambassadors for ACU. This group collectively brings enthusiasm and energy to our program and will be great assets for us as we move into a new conference this season. It is an exciting time to be a Wildcat!"
ACU is coming off its second consecutive WNIT Super 16 appearance, marking its deepest postseason run in the Division I era. The Wildcats went 24-11 for their most wins since 2019-20 and most home victories this century. ACU advanced to the Western Athletic Conference title game with a 13-5 mark in conference play.
Keys makes her way to the Big Country after spending this past season as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Southeastern in the Southland Conference. The Lions ranked fifth in the SLC in made three-pointers per game (6.1) and turnover margin. Five student-athletes landed on the conference's All-Academic Team.
From 2020-25. Keys served as an assistant coach at UT Rio Grande Valley, where she specialized in post player development. In her final year in Edinburg, Texas, the Vaqueros had their winningest season since 2018-19. Keys mentored six All-Conference honorees at UTRGV. In 2024-25, UTRGV led the SLC in opposing three-point percentage (.274) and ranked third in made threes per game (7.1). It was third in the WAC in offensive rebounds (14.0) in 2022-23.
"I have observed Coach Keys' professionalism and positive attitude for years while she was at UTRGV," Goodenough said. "She has coached under two head coaches that I have the utmost respect for, Lane Lord and Jeff Dow, and know that she has been trained and mentored very well. Coach Keys will be working with our post position group and will serve as our academic coordinator as well as our director of analytics. She has seamlessly joined our tight-knit Wildcat family."
Keys got her career started as the athletic director at Immaculate Heart of Mary School in Towson, Md. from 2018-20. She played basketball at Little Rock from 2013-18, powering the Trojans to three Sun Belt Conference titles. In Keys' final season, she landed on the All-Sun Belt Third Team. She graduated with her Bachelor's degree in health and exercise science education in 2017 before earning her Bachelor's in criminal justice in 2018. While in school, Keys cut her teeth in coaching at the AAU level.
Ground served as an assistant coach and graduate assistant at Tarleton State in 2025-26, where she aided with recruiting efforts, practices, workouts and scouting. The Texans received three All-WAC honors and advanced to the conference tournament semifinals.
"Just a few minutes into the interview with Coach Ground, I could tell that she was organized, driven, hard working, intelligent and a problem solver," Goodenough said. "These are definitely necessary characteristics for coordinating travel in a new conference and in overseeing purchasing for our program. She has already proven to be a great addition with her behind-the-scenes efforts on our summer camps."
Ground was a basketball student-athlete at the University of the Ozarks in Clarksville, Ark. from 2023-25. Off the court, she served as the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee director of social media and was a student assistant for the Ozarks volleyball team. Ground was also an operations associate for Game On Arena Sports while earning her Bachelor's in marketing in 2025.
Granado graduated from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in May with his Bachelor's in sport management. There, he assisted the women's basketball program as a student manager and a video coordinator intern. Granado supported the team's daily operations and travel preparation. He worked alongside the Islanders' coaching staff with practice drills, scout team responsibilities and player development activities.
"Coach Thomas was given a great variety of responsibilities at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi by his head coach, who is one of my longtime coaching friends, Royce Chadwick," Goodenough said. "Some of his duties will include supervising our student managers, assisting with team travel, serving in skill development workouts and helping both of our recruiting coordinators."
Granado assisted the program's video staff with opponent scouting, film breakdown and tracking player performance data. He also served as a deputy athletic director intern within the department, where he helped develop the organization's yearly calendar and assisted in scheduling coordination of athletic events.
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