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12 champion Kansas State and Summit League winner South Dakota<br />
State in 2007-08.<br />
Paving the way for the successful 2007-08 campaign was a strong<br />
second half in 2006-07, led by the freshman duo of Neuvirth and Schuett.<br />
Neuvirth was tabbed the MVC Newcomer of the Year after leading The<br />
Valley in steals, while Schuett was named to the MVC All-Freshman<br />
Team.<br />
The 2004-05 season witnessed Flanery engineer a 19-10 campaign<br />
and a third straight invite to the WNIT. The Jays remained among the<br />
MVC’s best by tying for a second-place finish at 13-5 in conference play.<br />
The Jays went 3-0 against Big 12 teams and put together an eight-game<br />
winning streak during the heart of the season.<br />
Flanery and the <strong>Bluejays</strong> concluded the 2003-04 season by claiming<br />
the first national postseason tournament title in school history, capturing<br />
the WNIT Championship. Their 5-0 run through the postseason was<br />
capped by a 73-52 rout of UNLV at the Omaha Civic Auditorium.<br />
<strong>Creighton</strong> arrived at the championship by clinching two road victories,<br />
topping two Pac-10 teams (Washington, Oregon State) and cruising<br />
through three home games. The Jays became the first team from the<br />
MVC to win the WNIT. Flanery’s team set a then-WNIT record by making<br />
44 three-point field goals, while also shooting an impressive 89.9 percent<br />
(71-for-79) from the free-throw line in the event.<br />
He posted the best rookie season by a head coach in school and<br />
Valley history in 2002-03, as he guided his <strong>Bluejays</strong> to their second consecutive<br />
MVC regular-season title and a WNIT semifinal appearance.<br />
After serving as the <strong>Bluejays</strong>’ top assistant coach for the previous<br />
decade, Flanery tallied a 24-9 overall record in his first season at the<br />
helm, 13-5 in The Valley.<br />
His 24 wins surpassed his predecessor, Connie Yori, for the most successful<br />
rookie coaching campaign in school history. His win total also<br />
made him the most successful first-year coach in conference history, topping<br />
Lisa Stone’s 23 wins at Drake in 2000-01. He would then tie Stone,<br />
following the 2003-04 season for the best two-year start in league history,<br />
with 48 victories.<br />
Individuals have excelled under Flanery’s mentoring. In addition to<br />
Neuvirth’s honors, Laura Spanheimer earned MVC Defensive Player of<br />
the Year honors twice and became the first player in league history to be<br />
named to the all-defensive team four times. Spanheimer also twice<br />
earned WNIT All-Tournament recognition. Christy Neneman was tabbed<br />
the 2004 WNIT Most Valuable Player and the 2003 MVC Player of the<br />
Year under Flanery’s watch.<br />
He has also guided one of the top academic teams in the nation during<br />
his stint at <strong>Creighton</strong>, beginning as an assistant coach in 1992. Since<br />
1992, the <strong>Bluejays</strong>’ team grade point average has ranked in the top 10<br />
nationally four times, including a No. 5 ranking in the 2009-10 WBCA<br />
Academic Top 25 thanks to a 3.506 team GPA and four academic all-conference<br />
and all-district players in the starting lineup. Sixteen first-team<br />
MVC scholar-athletes have played for Flanery, including two Academic<br />
All-Americans, while both Spanheimer and Dayna Finch earned MVC<br />
Prairie Farms Scholar Athlete of the Year recognition.<br />
A 1987 <strong>Creighton</strong> graduate with a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy,<br />
he was a member of the Bluejay men’s basketball team from 1985<br />
to 1987. He was also a member of the <strong>Creighton</strong> golf team during his<br />
four-year collegiate career.<br />
Flanery was handed the reins to his first head coaching position on<br />
July 19, 2002, four weeks after Yori’s resignation. He is the sixth head<br />
coach in women’s hoops history at <strong>Creighton</strong>, and just the third since<br />
1980. He succeeded long-time coaching partner, Yori, who he had been<br />
on staff with since his graduate assistant days at CU in the late 1980s.<br />
Following his graduation, Flanery joined current Director of Athletics<br />
Bruce Rasmussen’s Bluejay coaching staff as a graduate assistant for<br />
the 1987-88 season. He remained on the women’s basketball staff<br />
through the 1989-90 season, before heading to Loras College for the<br />
1990-91 season.<br />
17<br />
Prior to the 1990-91 season, Yori was named head basketball coach<br />
at Loras and hired Flanery as her assistant. At Loras, Flanery helped the<br />
Dubuque, Iowa, school to a two-year 25-25 record. In 1991-92, the<br />
Duhawks finished with a 15-10 record, the program’s first winning season<br />
since 1986-87.<br />
When Yori was tabbed as the head coach at <strong>Creighton</strong> prior to the<br />
1992-93 season, Flanery once again joined forces with her to continue<br />
the winning tradition Rasmussen had established at <strong>Creighton</strong>. As Yori’s<br />
top assistant, Flanery and the <strong>Bluejays</strong> notched a 170-115 record in a 10-<br />
year span. The Jays made two appearances in the NCAA Tournament<br />
and earned one invite to the WNIT with Flanery on the sidelines as an<br />
assistant.<br />
Flanery, 45, has a son, Jackson, who was born Oct. 19, 2009. He is<br />
originally from Guthrie Center, Iowa, where he starred on the basketball,<br />
baseball and golf teams at Guthrie Center High School.<br />
Flanery’s Head Coaching Ledger<br />
Season Overall Pct. MVC Pct. Postseason<br />
2002-03 24-9 .727 13-5 .722 WNIT Final Four<br />
2003-04 24-9 .727 15-3 .833 WNIT Champions<br />
2004-05 19-10 .655 13-5 .722 WNIT First Round<br />
2005-06 8-21 .276 5-13 .278<br />
2006-07 13-19 .406 8-10 .444 MVC Tourney Runner-Up<br />
2007-08 21-12 .636 12-6 .667 WNIT Second Round<br />
2008-09 22-12 .647 14-4 .778 WNIT Second Round<br />
2009-10 21-11 .656 13-5 .722 WNIT Second Round<br />
Totals 152-103 .596 93-51 .646<br />
Flanery’s Record vs. All Opponents<br />
Arkansas-Little Rock 1-1<br />
Arkansas State 1-1<br />
Auburn 0-2<br />
Bradley 11-5<br />
Colorado 2-0<br />
Colorado State 3-0<br />
Davidson 1-0<br />
Denver 2-0<br />
Drake 10-10<br />
Eastern Illinois 0-1<br />
Evansville 13-4<br />
Houston 1-1<br />
Illinois State 13-6<br />
Indiana State 10-8<br />
Iowa 3-4<br />
Iowa State 0-2<br />
Kansas 2-7<br />
Kansas State 2-4<br />
Kent State 1-0<br />
Louisiana Monroe 0-1<br />
Maine 1-0<br />
Marquette 0-2<br />
Memphis 2-0<br />
Michigan 1-1<br />
Minnesota 0-3<br />
Missouri 0-1<br />
America East 1-0<br />
Atlantic 10 3-0<br />
Big East 0-3<br />
Big Ten 5-10<br />
Big 12 8-23<br />
Big West 4-0<br />
Conference USA 3-1<br />
Metro Atlantic 1-0<br />
Mid-American 1-0<br />
Jim Flanery<br />
Missouri State 7-11<br />
Nebraska 2-6<br />
North Dakota State 1-1<br />
Northern Iowa 11-7<br />
Northwestern 1-2<br />
Oklahoma 0-2<br />
Oral Roberts 2-0<br />
Oregon State 3-0<br />
Richmond 1-0<br />
Rutgers 0-1<br />
Saint Louis 2-0<br />
San Diego State 1-0<br />
Siena 1-0<br />
South Dakota State 1-0<br />
Southern Illinois 11-6<br />
Stephen F. Austin 2-0<br />
Texas Tech 0-1<br />
UC Davis 2-0<br />
UC Irvine 1-0<br />
UC Riverside 1-0<br />
UMKC 3-0<br />
UNLV 1-0<br />
Washington 1-0<br />
Western Illinois 1-0<br />
Wichita State 16-2<br />
Bold indicates 2010-11 opponents<br />
Flanery’s Record vs. All Conferences<br />
Missouri Valley 102-59<br />
Mountain West 5-0<br />
Ohio Valley 0-1<br />
Pacific-10 4-0<br />
Southeastern 0-2<br />
Southern 1-0<br />
Southland 2-0<br />
Summit 8-1<br />
Sun Belt 4-3<br />
Based on conference affiliations in 2010-11
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