ANDERSON, S.C. - Anderson University Director of Athletics Nancy Simpson has announced that head women's basketball coach Jim Brunelli has resigned to accept the head coaching position at Gannon University in Erie, Pa.
"I am so grateful to Jim for taking our women's basketball program to new levels, and for the success he has provided to our department and the university," said Simpson. "Jim is truly top shelf, both professionally and personally, and he will be missed tremendously. We do wish him the best of luck in his new position. A search for new leadership for our team will begin immediately."
Brunelli replaces former Gannon head coach Cleve Wright, who resigned in mid-April to become the head coach at NCAA Division I Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Wright departed Gannon as the school's all-time winningest basketball coach, with Brunelli inheriting a Golden Knights' program that has made five NCAA Tournament appearances in the past 11 seasons, including a trip to the NCAA Division II national semifinals in 2010 and the NCAA Division II Elite Eight this past season.
"It has been an honor and a privilege to be the head women's basketball coach at Anderson University, said Brunelli. "I want to thank President Whitaker and especially Nancy Simpson for giving me the great opportunity. My family and I have truly enjoyed the last five years being part of the Anderson community. The ladies I've been able to coach have been an absolute pleasure and have worked hard in the classroom and on the court. I also want to thank all the Trojan fans who have cheered my teams on and made them feel loved."
After his team went from an eighth-place predicted finish in the
2012-13 South Atlantic Conference preseason poll to a
regular-season conference championship, Brunelli was named the
conference's 2013 Coach of the Year. The Trojans also went on to
claim the SAC Tournament title, becoming the third consecutive
league team to claim both the regular-season title and tournament
crown in the same season - after Wingate in 2012 and
Tusculum in 2011, before falling to Pfeiffer in the opening round
of the NCAA Tournament.
In 2008, Brunelli took the reins of an AU program that had made six consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament, guiding the Trojans to two straight trips to the Big Dance, in 2009 and 2010. His Trojan teams demonstrated a knack for peaking at the right time, as AU closed out the 2008-09 campaign by winning five of its last six regular-season games, then won four straight to claim the Conference Carolinas' tournament title.
The 2009-10 season saw the Trojans win seven of their final eight regular-season contests and claim the second seed in the Conference Carolinas tournament. Anderson hosted the tourney at the Abney Center and garnered three straight victories to capture its second consecutive title and eighth straight trip to the NCAA Regional.
Under Brunelli's tutelage, five Trojans earned All Conference Tournament honors - Alissa Diaz, Breonda Shannon, Amanda Parris, Alexa Neal and Ashley Abed - while Neal collected All-Conference accolades twice and Shanice Wilson was named MVP of the 2010 Conference Tournament. Sierra Simpson was named to the SAC All-Freshman team two seasons ago after being named Second-Team All-SAC. Diaz was named the 2013 SAC Player of the Year and 2013 SAC Tournament MVP, while Shannon earned second-team All-SAC accolades and was named to the 2013 SAC All-Tournament Team.
Brunelli, a native of Force, Pa., came to Anderson from the
University of Akron where he spent two seasons as an assistant
coach and recruiting coordinator. Prior to arriving at Akron,
Brunelli spent six years at the University of Albany where he spent
six seasons as an assistant coach, the last two as the top
assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.
