Curtis Janz begins his 10th season as Director of Athletics at UAFS for the 2025-26 season.
During his first three seasons at UAFS, Janz has led UAFS' transition from the Heartland Conference to the Lone Star Conference, which is now the largest NCAA Division II conference. Following five seasons in the LSC, Janz led the transition of UAFS to the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, which the Lions joined in July of 2024.
Janz has served on the NCAA II Strategic Planning and Finance Committee since June 2024 and was selected to chair the committee in September 2025.
Additionally, Janz has introduced the Lions Impact Series, which brings in various speakers to talk to UAFS student-athletes about mental health, academics and numerous off-court topics to enhance the student-athlete's well-being and allow them to build camaraderie outside of their sport.
The Wichita, Kan., native previously served eight years as director of athletics at Oklahoma Christian University, which, along with UAFS, is a member of NCAA Division II and the Lone Star Conference.
Oklahoma Christian enjoyed much athletic success during Janz’s tenure as director of athletics, winning six of the university’s seven national titles during that time – three in men’s golf (NAIA 2009 and 2011, NCCAA 2012), two in men’s cross country (NAIA 2011, NCCAA 2012) and one in men’s tennis (NAIA 2012).
Under Janz, Oklahoma Christian posted three consecutive Top 10 finishes from 2010 to 2012 in the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup for NAIA schools, which measures the across-the-board success of college athletic departments.
In 2012, Janz led Oklahoma Christian’s successful application to begin the NCAA Division II membership process. Oklahoma Christian received full NCAA Division II membership in September 2015.
Oklahoma Christian student-athletes also have excelled academically in recent years. During the 2015-16 academic year, Oklahoma Christian athletes had an overall grade-point average of 3.26. Oklahoma Christian won the Heartland Conference’s overall academic championship in 2013-14, with the university’s female student-athletes taking top honors in the conference in 2014 and 2016.
Janz is a 1986 graduate of Oklahoma Christian and a former Eagles basketball player. After graduation, he served as a graduate assistant coach on the staff of legendary former Eagles men’s basketball coach Dan Hays until being promoted to a full-time assistant coach in 1988.
He served as assistant coach for 19 seasons before giving up those duties in August of 2009 to focus solely on his duties as director of athletics, a position he was named to a few months earlier.
He will be inducted into the Oklahoma Christian Athletics Hall of Fame in November 2025.
Janz, who received his master’s degree in 1988 from the University of Central Oklahoma, is an active member of the NCAA Division II Athletic Directors Association and the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.
He is the co-author of a textbook, “Basketball Skill Progressions,” with Jerry Krause of Gonzaga University and James Conn of Central Missouri State University. The text has been adopted by the National Association of Basketball Coaches as a component of its Youth Basketball Instructional Packets. In 2003, Janz received the second annual AFLAC National Assistant Coaches of the Year award.
He is married to Kathryn Janz, who grew up in Elk City, Okla. and is the Title IX Director at UAFS. They are the parents of a daughter, Delaney.
