Former Wichita State player Zach Bush named Maize boys basketball coach
Zach Bush always enjoyed the annual trip back home to Wichita to coach the AfterShocks in The Basketball Tournament.
He won’t have travel to do so this summer.
Bush, a former Wichita State men’s basketball player, was named the head coach of the Maize high school boys basketball team, pending board approval, on Thursday. He replaces coach Chris Grill, another former Shocker who led the Eagles to a state championship in 2021 and retired following this past season.
“I want to thank Coach Grill for the incredible foundation he has laid,” Bush said in a statement. “It is a privilege to build on that strong tradition and serve our student-athletes.”
Bush is a former star player at Eisenhower who enjoyed a five-year career at Wichita State from 2012-17. He was there for WSU’s 2013 Final Four run and record-setting 35-1 season the following year.
He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant under Steve Forbes at East Tennessee State, then spent time as an assistant coach at Maize South and Andover — helping the Trojans win the 2023 state title. He has spent the last two seasons in Omaha as an assistant coach at Bellevue West, which compiled a 45-9 record and also won a state title in 2024.
“Coach Bush is a fantastic basketball coach who leads by example and holds his players accountable on everything,” Bellevue West coach Steve Klein said in a statement. “His background and knowledge of the game is phenomenal. But more importantly, coach Bush truly cares about his players for what they do both on and off the court, which makes him fully ready to run his own program. Maize is getting a diamond in the rough and we will truly miss having him in our program.”
Bush confirmed to The Eagle that he will continue to coach the AfterShocks in the summertime. Along with former WSU players Garrett Stutz and J.R. Simon, Bush has guided the WSU alumni team to an 11-4 record — with one semifinal and two quarterfinal runs — in the $1 million summer tournament.
He will return to Wichita with his wife, Jaylyn (Agnew), a former Andover star basketball player who was named the Big East Player of the Year while at Creighton and played one season in the WNBA. She has been an assistant coach for her alma mater the past two seasons.
“My wife and I are thrilled to be coming back home to Wichita and joining the Maize community,” Bush said in a statement. “I can’t wait to get started.”
This story was originally published April 24, 2025 at 1:38 PM.
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