ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Mike Bradbury, previously the head coach at Wright State University for the past six seasons, has been named the new head women’s basketball coach by Vice President for Athletics Paul Krebs. The hire is pending final HR approval, and Bradbury will be introduced at a press conference at 1:30 p.m. Thursday at WisePies Arena in the U.S. Bank Club Level.
Bradbury brings with him to Albuquerque nine successful years as a Division I head coach, the past six with Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. With the Raiders, Bradbury led his squad to five 20-win seasons, including each of the last three seasons. In the last three seasons, Wright State has amassed a 75-28 record, the best amongst the 13 Division I programs in the state of Ohio.
“I am excited to have Mike Bradbury lead our women’s basketball program,” said Vice President of Athletics Paul Krebs. “We looked at a lot of candidates, and Mike rose to the top with his past successes, both as a head coach at Wright State and Morehead State and as an assistant. Mike has a great reputation as a recruiter, as a coach and as an educator, and I’m proud to welcome him, his wife Christy and his two children Alex and Sena Nicole to the Lobo family.”
Overall he had five winning seasons, all of which were 20-win seasons, in his six at Wright State, a feat made all the more remarkable as Wright State had just one winning season in the previous 22 before his arrival. In the previous 37 seasons of women’s basketball at Wright State, the Raider program had tallied 20 wins just once before Bradbury led the team to 20 wins in five of his six seasons.
His latest stellar three-year run started in 2013-14, when the Raiders won a school record 26 games on the way to a 26-9 seasons and the program’s first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament. That season saw the Raiders finish second in the Horizon League and win its first Horizon League Tournament. It also featured the program’s first road win at perennial league power Green Bay. Kim Demmings was named the Horizon League Player of the Year and Tournament MVP, and it marked the first time in school history the program had a pair of first team All-Conference selections.
He followed up that cam by earning Horizon League Coach of the Year in 2014-15 after a 25-9 season that saw his squad lose its Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year less than two minutes into the season opener. The Raiders just missed a second straight NCAA Tournament appearance, falling in overtime in the conference championship game. The team did make its first appearance in the Women’s NIT as the league’s automatic qualifier, and in 2015-16, the team made it back-to-back WNIT appearances after a 24-11 season, earning the program’s first at-large bid.
Overall, those three seasons are the three winningest seasons in the history of Wright State women’s basketball.
In his first two seasons at Wright State, he led the team to a 20-13 mark and a 21-13 mark and berths in the Women’s Basketball Invitational, the first NCAA Division I postseason berths for the program. Overall, Bradbury has coached three Horizon League Players of the Year (all in the last three seasons), six first team All-Horizon League players, three second team members, four All-Freshman team members.
Prior to his time at Wright State, Bradbury was the head coach at Morehead State, where he led the Division I program to a 50-44 mark in three seasons, including a watershed 22-11 season, which remains the second-most wins in Morehead State history and the most wins by the Eagles in the last 38 years.
At Morehead State over his three seasons he coached one Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year, along with one first team All-OVC pick (two seasons) and three second team All-OVC picks.
Bradbury also has spent time as an assistant coach at Xavier (2002-06), Cincinnati (1996-02), VCU (1995-96), East Tennessee State (1994-95) and Chattanooga (1991-94). In his 25 seasons as an assistant and as a head coach, Bradbury has had 22 winning seasons.
NOTES: Bradbury is the third Chattanooga graduate to become a head coach at UNM, joining former football coach Joe Lee Dunn and former women’s tennis coach Kathy Kolenkiewicz … since the 1997-98 season, Bradbury has been a part of the postseason in 16 of his 19 seasons, including five NCAAs and eight WNITs … Bradbury has faced off against 86 various opponents as a head coach, but none of those opponents are current or even former Mountain West members … at Wright State his teams went 101-18 when breaking 70 points, and 56-5 when breaking 80 … in the last six seasons, his teams have hit 10 or more three-pointers 47 times, and eight or more 91 times.
| Years | School | Overall Record | Conference Record | Postseason | |||
| 1991-92 | Chattanooga (SA) | 18-12 | .600 | NCAA First Round | |||
| 1992-93 | Chattanooga (SA) | 18-12 | .600 | ||||
| 1993-94 | Chattanooga (AC) | 15-13 | .536 | ||||
| 1994-95 | East Tennessee (AC) | 21-9 | .700 | ||||
| 1995-96 | VCU (AC) | 14-14 | .500 | ||||
| 1996-97 | Cincinnati (AC) | 17-11 | .607 | ||||
| 1997-98 | Cincinnati (AC) | 21-9 | .700 | WNIT First Round | |||
| 1998-99 | Cincinnati (AC) | 22-9 | .710 | NCAA First Round | |||
| 1999-00 | Cincinnati (AC) | 18-13 | .581 | WNIT Second Round | |||
| 2000-01 | Cincinnati (AC) | 22-10 | .688 | WNIT First Round | |||
| 2001-02 | Cincinnati (AC) | 27-5 | .844 | NCAA Second Round | |||
| 2002-03 | Xavier (AC) | 20-10 | .667 | NCAA First Round | |||
| 2003-04 | Xavier (AC) | 17-13 | .567 | WNIT First Round | |||
| 2004-05 | Xavier (AC) | 22-10 | .688 | WNIT Quarterfinals | |||
| 2005-06 | Xavier (AC) | 21-9 | .700 | WNIT Second Round | |||
| 2006-07 | Xavier (AC) | 26-8 | .765 | NCAA First Round | |||
| 2007-08 | Morehead State (HC) | 11-19 | .367 | 9-11 | /450 | T-6th | |
| 2008-09 | Morehead State (HC) | 17-14 | .548 | 11-7 | .611 | 4th | |
| 2009-10 | Morehead State (HC) | 22-11 | .667 | 14-4 | .778 | 2nd | WBI First Round |
| 2010-11 | Wright State (HC) | 20-13 | .606 | 11-7 | .611 | 4th | WBI Second Round |
| 2011-12 | Wright State (HC) | 21-13 | .618 | 12-6 | .667 | 3rd | WBI Second Round |
| 2012-13 | Wright State (HC) | 12-18 | .400 | 6-10 | .375 | 5th | |
| 2013-14 | Wright State (HC) | 26-9 | .743 | 12-4 | .750 | 2nd | NCAA First Round |
| 2014-15 | Wright State (HC) | 25-9 | .735 | 12-4 | .750 | 2nd | WNIT First Round |
| 2015-16 | Wright State (HC) | 24-11 | .686 | 12-6 | .667 | T-2nd | WNIT First Round |
| Chattanooga (AC) | 51-37 | .580 | |||||
| East Tennessee (AC) | 21-9 | .700 | |||||
| VCU (AC) | 14-14 | .500 | |||||
| Cincinnati (AC) | 127-57 | .690 | |||||
| Xavier (AC) | 106-50 | .679 | |||||
| Morehead State (HC) | 50-44 | .532 | 34-22 | .607 | |||
| Wright State (HC) | 128-73 | .637 | 65-37 | .637 | |||
| Assistant Coach Total | 319-167 | .656 | |||||
| Head Coach Total | 178-117 | .603 | |||||
| Overall Coach Total | 497-284 | .636 | |||||
| Denotes advanced to NCAA Tournament |
| Denotes advanced to WNIT |
| Denotes advanced to WBI |
What They Are Saying About Mike Bradbury
“Mike is one of the top up and coming young coaches in the country. He’s a proven winner with a tremendous work ethic. There is no question in my mind that he will build a championship program at New Mexico.” — Ohio State women’s basketball head coach Kevin McGuff
“Mike has an innate ability to develop chemistry on his teams. Recruiting and strategy are critical to success in every program, but finding the right students that allow for tremendous chemistry on a team make the difference between good and great. The Lobos better be ready to play well into March for the foreseeable future under Mike’s leadership.” – Morehead State Director of Athletics Brian Hutchinson
“New Mexico has made an outstanding hire in Mike Bradbury. Mike is a tireless recruiter with a great reputation, not only for his ability to recruit, but also his ability to develop and coach players. He is going to play an exciting and entertaining style of basketball that will allow them to be successful and their fans will love. I have no doubt that Mike will work extremely hard, not only coaching his players, but in the community of Albuquerque, as they have one of the best fan bases in all of women’s basketball.” – Louisville women’s basketball head coach Jeff Walz
(3/31/2016) Mike Bradbury Press Conference