Pardon Barton Community College athletic director Trevor Rolfs for announcing the impeding hiring of Carter Kruger as the new women’s head basketball coach.

At Tuesday night’s Barton athletic banquet, Rolfs announced that Carter has been promoted from women’s assistant to women’s head coach.

Carter’s appointment will be confirmed on Thursday, when the Barton Board of Directors convene at 3:30 p.m.

“It’s pretty much public knowledge,” Rolfs said. “We kind of let the cat out of the bag at the athletic banquet last night and pending board approval on Thursday, Carter Kruger will be our new women’s head basketball coach.”

Carter replaces Darin Spence, who accepted the head post at NCAA Division-II Newman University less than two weeks ago. Spence lasted as Barton only one season after spending the previous eight as the head women’s coach at D-I New Mexico State University.

Carter served as Spence’s assistant coach this past winter for the Lady Cougars. The previous two years, Carter served as an assistant women’s coach at Garden City Community College, a sister school of Barton in the Jayhawk.

Carter, who has no previous head-coaching experience, was a men’s basketball assistant at Mankato (Minn.) State, prior to departing for Garden City.