Seven-time NACC Coach of the Year Klay Knueppel is in his 22nd season as head coach of the Wisconsin Lutheran College women's basketball program. Knueppel, who is 19th among winningest active coaches in Division III with a .743 winning percentage, spent 12 seasons as an assistant with the Warriors before being named the program's third head coach in 2004.

The Warriors, who finished 21-8 overall and 15-1 in NACC play last season en route to their 13th conference championship, advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 13th time in program history. WLC also clinched its 13th 20-plus win season in program history. Knueppel also recorded his 400th career win on November 22 in a 73-65 victory over No. 17 Transylvania,

Wisconsin Lutheran achieved its highest top 25 rankings ever during the 2021-2022 season, climbing as high as eighth and 14th in the nation's primary polls. The Warriors were third in the NCAA in scoring defense (46.7), fourth in turnovers per game (11.8), ninth in field goal percentage defense (31.2), and 10th in win-loss percentage (92.0). 

WLC posted a program-record 27 wins in 2018-2019 and made its 10th NCAA Tournament appearance, winning its third tournament game in program history after defeating No. 17 Illinois Wesleyan, 48-40, in the first round. Wisconsin Lutheran, which was ranked 24th in the final D3hoops.com Top 25 poll, allowed a NCAA Division III-low 45.9 points per game. 

The 2014-2015 Warriors upset 10th-ranked Wheaton (Ill.) 70-67 in overtime in the first round for their second NCAA Tournament win in program history. Knueppel mentored Kristen Schulz to D3hoops.com First Team All-American honors, the college's first-ever First Team All-American.

WLC reeled off a school-record 23 straight victories in 2013-2014 and in 2012-2013, became the first team in conference history to finish with a perfect conference record (17-0). Knueppel coached Wisconsin Lutheran to its second-best season in school history in 2010-2011 as it won a school-record 26 games, including the school's first-ever NCAA Tournament win, a 73-59 victory over UW-La Crosse.

Over the last 15 seasons, Knueppel has guided the Warriors to a 239-30 conference record. He has mentored a total of two All-Americans, 10 All-Region performers, and six NACC Players of the Year.

WLC has enjoyed a successful run with Knueppel on the bench, including his time as an assistant. In 2003, Wisconsin Lutheran finished 18-7 overall and posted an 11-1 record in the Lake Michigan Conference en route to the program's first outright regular-season title. The Warriors swept through the conference tournament, defeating Lakeland, 59-41, in the championship game before losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to UW-Eau Claire, the top-ranked team in the country.

From 1998 to 2003, WLC advanced to the title game of the LMC Tournament five times (1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003) and earned the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament twice (2000, 2003).

While he still exhibits the same hard work and intensity he did as an assistant coach for 12 years under Wayne Smith (who started the program in 1983), Knueppel employs some of the same coaching techniques as his father, Paul Knueppel, the college's retired vice president of student affairs and former men's basketball head coach and athletic director.

Knueppel studied psychology while a student at Wisconsin Lutheran. He was the first of three Knueppel brothers to play basketball for the Warriors. During his three seasons (1989-1992), Knueppel established himself as the most prolific free throw shooter (.917) in school history. As a senior, he led the NAIA in free throw percentage with a school-record mark of .950. More importantly, Knueppel helped the 1992 Warriors to their first 20-win season with a 21-9 overall record. He still ranks 12th in career scoring (1,188 points) and assists (205).

He and his brothers Kon, Kole, and Klint, known as "The Flying Knueppel Brothers," were named to the Gus Macker Hall of Fame in Belding, Michigan after they won the top men's flight in a national 3-on-3 basketball tournament held in Hilton Head, South Carolina in the summer of 2003.

Knueppel lives in Milwaukee with his wife, Lisa. They have four children; Kaila, Caitlin, Jakob, and Joshua.