Tierney served as an assistant on the Lady Bobcat coaching staff last season.

“I am very pleased to have Steve on board with us,” remarked Klebez. “He has a lot of experience as a coach and he did a fine job last year as an assistant coach for Wesleyan. I think it is important that he was here last year. It keeps the continuity going and that is very important to have. With Steve as coach of the women’s program, I think it will progress and move along nicely just like it always has.”

Tierney inherits a Wesleyan squad that posted a 19-10 record and advanced to the 2003 West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic conference semifinals. They will return three starters and add as many as 10 new recruits to the roster for 2003-04. Tierney fills the position vacated by Nikki Hall-Atkinson, who has accepted an assistant coaching position at her alma mater at Longwood (Va.) University.

“I am very excited to have this opportunity,” remarked Tierney. “Becoming a head coach again is something I have wanted to return to for some time now. I think it is everyone’s goal in coaching to be able to coach your own team and run your own program.”

A 1987 graduate of Sam Houston State University, Tierney was a four-year basketball letterman and was named to the Gulf Star Conference All-Academic team following three consecutive seasons. The Bearkats reached the NCAA Division II tourney during Tierney’s playing career, where he was a three-year starter. Sam Houston State played its first season of Division I competition during Tierney’s senior season.

After a year serving as an assistant coach at South Suburban College in South Holland, Ill., Tierney played professionally acting as player/head coach for the organizations in Masterton and Napier, New Zealand for three seasons.

Tierney returned to coaching in the United States, serving stints as an assistant under Steve McDonald and Charlie Miller from 1991-92, as interim head coach of the Lady Bobcats in 1993 with a coaching record of 7-11 with a team that was previously winless in seven games that season. He earned his Master of Business Administration at West Virginia Wesleyan during his first tenure at the school.

Tierney returned overseas to serve as player/coach with the Vienna, Austria Basket Flyers in 1993-94. Following his playing career, Tierney has served as an assistant coach for Fairmont State College and West Virginia Wesleyan’s women’s basketball programs prior to his appointment.

“Coach Hall-Atkinson certainly has created a solid foundation,” stated Tierney. “Team unity certainly has been strong and we want that to continue. We were playing great basketball at the end of last year and we want to build on that while transitioning as many as 10 new players into our team. I am a motion offense and man-to-man defense type of coach, but I can be flexible. I have played and coached under many different systems and we will find a way to suit our personnel.”

Tierney is married to the former Kelley Cartwright '88, MBA '93. The couple resides in Buckhannon.