Brian Neal returns to Thomas More as head women's basketball coach
Thomas More University has named Brian Neal as its new head women’s basketball coach.
Neal will begin his second stint as TMU head coach after leaving in 2011 to join the coaching staff at Xavier University. He replaces Jeff Hans, who took over for him in 2011 and left last week after 13 seasons for the head coaching job at Northern Kentucky University.
The school will introduce Neal at a press conference Thursday afternoon.
Thomas More was 18-11 last season, its first in NCAA Division II. The Saints were 13-7 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.
Neal was the head women’s basketball coach this past season at Southeastern, a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). school in Lakeland, Fla.
Neal was Jeff Hans’ predecessor as Thomas More head coach, spending seven seasons at the helm.
During his first stint at Thomas More, Neal compiled a 171-31 overall record, ranking sixth in NCAA Division III among active coaches in win percentage at .846. Six times in seven years, the Saints won 20 or more games. Thomas More also won five conference championships and twice reached the Sweet 16.
He left Thomas More for Xavier University, where he was an assistant coach for two years and the head coach for six.
At XU, he took on a rebuilding project and saw the team make one of the biggest improvements in the country, increasing the win total by 10 in his second season.
He returned to the Connor Convocation Center as an assistant to Hans for the 2022-23 season, helping the Saints to a 31-4 record and NAIA national runner-up.
He spent the two prior seasons as an assistant coach at NCAA Division I Butler and spent a season at Eastern Illinois as an assistant coach.
Before taking over the reins at Thomas More, Neal was an assistant coach at his alma mater Northern Kentucky University for six seasons under head coach Nancy Winstel. While at NKU, the Norse compiled a six-year record of 156-36 (.813) and advanced to the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Championship each season with the school's first-ever national championship coming in 2000.
Neal began his coaching career at the Division III level as an assistant coach at Wilmington College from 1992-98. With the Quakers, he was an assistant under head coach Jerry Scheve for a team that posted back-to-back 20-win campaigns in his final two seasons.Neal graduated from NKU in May 1991 with a bachelor's degree in journalism and an English minor.
The Enquirer will update this story
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Brian Neal returns to Thomas More as head women's basketball coach
