Pima College assistant women's basketball coach Chris Klassen is leaving.
Todd Holthaus' longtime aide accepted a job at Knox College, a Division III school in Galesburg, Illinois, earlier this week. He will join the Prairie Fire program immediately.
Klassen has been part of Holthaus' staff since 2012; together, the coaches made several deep playoff runs. He came to the Aztecs from Pima's men's program, where he served as an assistant in the 2011-12 season.
Klassen was connected to Knox College through David Elliott, a friend and current assistant at Cornell. Elliott had worked at Knox in the past, and told Klassen he thought he'd be a good fit.
Things moved quickly.
"They flew me out and I interviewed for two days," he said in a news release. "Coach (Emily) Cline offered me the job just as I got on the plane and my wife and I talked about it.
“Opportunities like this don’t come very often and it’s a great fit for me and my family,” Klassen said. “It was an amazing experience, facilities are amazing and they’re on the rise.”
Klassen is a Palo Verde High School product who played collegiately at William Penn. He served as Palo Verde's head coach from 2009-11. During that time, Klassen and his wife co-founded the Tucson Rattlers club team. The program has produced 42 college prospects since 2011. Klassen will continue to handle the administrative side of the program; Holthaus will help run the on-court product.
Holthaus said Klassen is "ready for this next challenge."
"Although we will miss him, I’m glad he gets to pursue his coaching passion on a full-time basis,” Holthaus said.
