Brandon Schneider, Stephen F. Austin University’s women’s basketball coach, has emerged as a leading candidate to fill the vacancy at Kansas University created when Bonnie Henrickson was fired.

Schneider is in his fifth year at the Southland Conference school in Nacogdoches, Texas. Before that, he coached Div. II Emporia State to 11 NCAA tournament appearances, two Final Fours and a 2010 national championship in 12 seasons. Schneider inherited an Emporia State team that had just gone to the Final Four and brought the Lady Hornets back there in his first season, 1999, and again 11 years later. Emporia was back in the Final Four this season under Schneider’s successor, Jory Collins.

At Stephen F. Austin, Schneider inherited a team that had gone 18-11, 13-3, and tied for first in the Southland Conference. In his five seasons in Nacogdoches thus far, Schneider’s conference records have been 9-7, 11-5, 8-10, 13-5 and 16-2 this season. His most recent team went 23-8 overall, but lost a shot at the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament by losing to Houston Baptist in a conference tourney semifinal and was bounced by TCU in the first round of the WNIT. SFA has not been to the NCAA women’s tournament since 2006.

Schneider interviewed Tuesday, and two others are expected to do so Wednesday.