Gabriella Cortez, a longtime assistant under former Labette Cardinals women’s basketball coach Mitch Rolls, has been hired by the school as its new head coach.
Cortez takes over for Kaylena Andersen, who left the school after it forfeited nearly all of its entire season due to low roster numbers. Labette lost all six of the games it actually played, with four of the losses by at least 68 points.
“That’s not going to happen again,” Cortez said. “I want to put people in the stands.”
A native of Louisiana who played her college ball at NCAA Division I Louisiana-Monroe, Cortez spent the last five seasons as an assistant under Rolls — three at Labette and one apiece at Iowa Western and Chipola.
Rolls guided Labette to a pair of Kansas Jayhawk Conference titles and a berth to the national tournament in 2020. Labette was routinely ranked in the top-10 of the NJCAA polls during his tenure. He also guided Iowa Western to the Division II national tournament in 2024 and Chipola to a No. 1 ranking in Division I in 2025.
“I wanted this job because I wanted to be a head coach,” Cortez said. “It was time. Mitchell and I have done a great job the past couple of years. I felt it was time to venture out on my own. Starting here was the perfect spot. (Athletic Director Aaron) Keal makes it feel like home. The community makes it feel like home. So why not start such a challenging adventure where I’m home and at a place that will help me grow and develop?”
Cortez, who was hired in May but arrived on campus last week, has hit the recruiting pavement. There were no players on the Labette women’s roster when Cortez was hired.
“That’s been the hardest part without having a season last year,” Cortez said. “I have to recruit based on what we did two years ago. But we’re going to get 10-15 kids in here that want to have a season. It’s an uphill battle. But we’ll have something going.”
Seven players have already signed to Labette, including four Division I transfers from Chipola, a true freshman from Philadelphia, a Neosho County transfer and Megan Doherty, a walk-on from St. Paul.
“It’s just been a lot of phone calls with moms and kids,” Cortez said. “I tell them that we can do something at Labette. It’s a family oriented community college. I had a kid on a visit and the volleyball coach (Deardin Kelley) did the visit for me because I was still out of town. And she signed. Parents hear Parsons, Kansas and they think the same thing I thought when I first heard it. But then they learn they can trust me with their kids.”
Cortez also said she will not attempt to use players from Labette’s volleyball or softball programs to field her own roster. Andersen had four volleyball players join the roster last winter.
“I can’t just walk out with any roster and compete. We’re going to put quality on the floor — real basketball players. We’re a basketball program,” Cortez said.
Pitching the success of Rolls’ programs has been a crux of Cortez’s strategy on the recruiting trail.
“I’m trying to inject it all. That’s my full pitch,” Cortez said. “The kids see that we had success as a staff at multiple places. So they know we can do it here, again. We just need to get them here and we’ll get it going.”
Cortez wants at least 10 and as many as 16 players on Labette’s roster when school starts.
“The dream number is 15-16 kids,” Cortez said. “The goal is to get bodies right now. And keep them healthy. If I can’t get 15, I’d love 12. The absolute minimum to play a schedule is 10. We won’t have less than 10. And we have seven right now. I’m still talking to coaches and kids.”
Cortez believes the Cardinals can look like peers in the Kansas Jayhawk Conference in 2025-26.
“I think I have the talent,” Cortez said. “But it’s JUCO basketball. This league is super competitive. I’m scared of this entire league. Everybody is really good. Realistically, I want to be competitive in the first year.”
