Mike Nienaber
Head Men's Basketball Coach
Phone: 901-321-3372
Email:
mnienabe@cbu.edu
Mike Nienaber has established the Bucs as one of the premier programs in the GSC and the South Region, winning 68 games, two GSC West championships, a GSC Championship, a South Regional Championship, two GSC West Coach of the Year awards, and the 2009 NABC South Region Coach of the Year award over the past three years. After losing all-time leading scorer Kevin Weybright from the 2008 GSC Champs, Nienaber refocused the Bucs as a more defense-oriented group. Last year, the Bucs led the nation in scoring defense and ranked in the top 10 in field goal percentage defense. He also coached his first-ever GSC West Player of the Year in Nick Kohs and his fifth GSC West Freshman of the year in Scott Dennis. Kohs has also won the Daktronics South Region Player of the Year award.
In 2008, he kicked off what would become the most historic two-month span of CBU basketball history in late January when his Bucs won 64-50 over Henderson State at Canale Arena. The win was his 131st at CBU, passing longtime CBU athletics director Bob Stephenson, who won 130 games in nine seasons. The history continued soon after, as the Bucs won their first-ever GSC West Division Championship, sharing the crown with Harding and Ouachita Baptist. The roll continued with the Bucs’ first-ever GSC Championship, winning the crown with a 93-89 win over Harding in the championship game and earning their first NCAA Division II South Regional berth. CBU’s 22 wins were their second-most in NCAA play, one behind the 2003-04.
Nienaber inherited a program that had won just five games, total, in the two years before he moved to Memphis from former TCAC and VSAC rival Bethel College in McKenzie. Since coming to CBU, Nienaber has led CBU’s six most successful NCAA squads.
The 2006-07 Bucs went 21-7, finishing in second place in the GSC West and earning Nienaber the GSC West Division Coach of the Year award. They returned to the GSC Tournament for the third time in four years, and for the third straight season, Nienaber coached the GSC West Division Freshman of the Year as Kyle Couvion joined previous winners Nick Kohs and Kevin Weybright. At the time, the Bucs’ 21 wins were their second-most since joining the NCAA.
The 2003-04 season was another of CBU’s best, as the Bucs finished with a 23-6 record. The season also proved special for Nienaber as he won his 300th collegiate game in a 73-55 defeat of West Alabama in December. After starting the season on a 13-game winning streak that included a win at D-I Troy State, the Bucs found themselves in the NABC/Division II Poll at No. 15. The team moved as high as No. 4 nationally and ended the season ranked 19th. They also earned the program’s first appearance in the GSC Tournament since joining the league in the 1996-97 season.
A 1977 graduate of Mississippi College, Nienaber holds a BS and an MS degree in History and an MA degree in Education from Murray State University. While at Mississippi College, he lettered four years under coach Doug Hines.
Nienaber arrived at CBU in September 1999 after 16 successful seasons at Bethel College in McKenzie, Tenn. He guided his Bethel teams to 242 victories, making him the winningest coach in the NAIA school’s history. His teams were always respected as overachievers, as his Wildcats posted victories over numerous highly ranked NAIA opponents. Nienaber’s victims included perennial NAIA powerhouses David Lipscomb, Belmont, and Union, as well as top-flight NCAA programs at Northern Kentucky, North Alabama, and Tennessee State.
In addition to team success, Nienaber’s players also earned plenty of individual recognition at Bethel. He coached five NAIA All-American post players, 22 All-Conference selections, and 9 NAIA Academic All-Americans. The academic success of his players is further reflected by the 87.5% graduation rate during his 16 years at Bethel. In recognition of the accomplishments of his teams on and off the floor, coach Nienaber was inducted into the Bethel College Athletic Hall of Fame in November 2002.
He has continued his success in developing talent at CBU. He has recruited five of the last six GSC West Freshmen of the year, and he has coached 12 All-GSC players
Nienaber and his wife Vickie have two sons, Michael and Eddie, both CBU graduates. Michael is Assistant Sports Information Director at Birmingham Southern College, while Eddie is an assistant coach with the CBU basketball team.
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