Former Kansas University softball player Brittany Hile and ex-Purdue player Alicia Spack will join the KU softball coaching staff for spring 2012, coach Megan Smith announced Wednesday.

Hile, a catcher with the Jayhawks in the 2008-2011 seasons and a student assistant coach in fall 2011, will be a volunteer assistant coach this spring.

Spack, who played at Florida in 2006 before transferring to Purdue for the 2007-2009 seasons, worked two years in Purdue Athletics’ ticket office as the director of group ticket sales. She was also the Purdue softball team’s game manager in the 2011 season. At KU, Spack will serve as the softball director of operations.

The Jayhawks open their 2012 season on Feb. 10 at the Southeastern Lion Classic in Hammond, La.