Brian Sullivan

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Brian Sullivan is a women's basketball assistant coach at Bellarmine University. Bellarmine is an NCAA Division II program that competes in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. This is Sullivan's second stint with the program, following one season with the Lady Knights in 2003-04. He has previously served as the head coach at Brescia University (2004-06) and assistant coach with Franklin College (1995-2003).

[edit] Background

Sullivan's background in basketball began while playing at New Albany High School in New Albany, IN. While there, he was coached by Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Jim Miller; in 1992 the Bulldogs compiled a 23-2 record and a season-ending #3 statewide ranking.

After spending a year as an undergraduate student at Indiana University, he resumed his studies at Franklin College and joined the basketball coaching staff in 1996-97.

After a solid run in the early 1990's, including two trips to the NCAA Division III Tournament, Franklin had hit hard times by 1997 with only nine players on the roster. During Sullivan's first two years on the staff, the Grizzlies posted just an 11-39 record. This included fourth and fifth place finishes, respectively, in the former Indiana Collegiate Athletic Conference.

With the addition of key players from state basketball powers Connersville, McCutcheon, New Albany, Perry Meridian High School, and Plainfield (among others), Franklin's program gradually built back to regional prominance over Sullivan's five years on staff. Working with head coaches Gene White (1998-2001) and Mike Jewett (2001-2003), the Grizzlies posted an 88-46 record in that span, including a conference-best 46-18 record in league play. Included were the 2000 HCAC regular season title and four trips to the conference tournament championship game.

In his first stint as an assistant at Bellarmine, Sullivan joined a program that had gone to the NCAA Division 2 Tournament the previous spring but returned just one starter and three players overall from the tourney roster. With two medical redshirts coming back along with the addition of five freshmen and three transfers, the Lady Knights were molded into a dangerous team late in the season. They finished the regular season with eight straight wins en route to a 21-9 record and second place finish in the GLVC (Bellarmine's best league showing of the past decade).

While Franklin and Bellarmine were both rebuilding situations of sorts, neither were as daunting as Sullivan's first effort as a head coach. Brescia University had graduated their five leading scorers from the previous season. Additionally, five of their top six players coming back transferred in the off-season to follow coach Marty Rowe to Lee University. On top of starting virtually from scratch, Brescia would play the most difficult schedule in the nation each of his two years: 31 games in his two seasons against teams ranked in the top 25 nationally.

Despite the defections, lack of size, and relative inexperience, the two seasons were not without their high points. Included were wins over 5th ranked Georgetown College and 17th ranked Cumberland College as well as the program's first-ever win at Park University. The Lady Bearcats also showed significant improvement both seasons when facing teams the second time around, lowing the opponent's scoring average by nearly 20 points a game and decreasing the field goal percentage allowed from 51% to 38%. The late season improvements mirrored similar showings at his prior stops (Franklin in 2000 started 3-7, finished 14-3; in 2002 the Grizzlies began 6-6 before finishing 12-3; in his first year at Bellarmine, the Lady Knights closed 9-2 after being 12-7 in mid-January).

Sullivan was the head coach of Franklin's junior varsity program for three seasons, with the team winning 81% of their games against a schedule made up of Division 3 and junior college competition. Included was an undefeated run in 2001. He was an assistant tennis coach at New Albany High from 1993-95, helping the girls team advance to their first ever Sweet Sixteen appearance. While at Brescia, he also served as the men's golf coach, leading the team to the 2005 National Finals while being named NAIA Region XII Coach of the Year.

[edit] Professional Records

Season	School	Position	Record	Conference Standings	Postseason
2000-01	Franklin	Assistant	16-10	HCAC	??
2001-02	Franklin	Assistant	21-6	HCAC	??
2002-03	Franklin	Assistant	18-9	HCAC	??
2003-04	Bellarmine	Assistant	21-9	GLVC	??
2004-05	Brescia	Head	8-22	KIAC	None
2005-06	Brescia	Head	3-30	KIAC	None It should be noted that in the year after Sullivan departed, the Bearcats were 20-14 under their new coach, won their independent conference title, and even upset Lee University in the first round of the national tournament.
2006-07	Bellarmine	Assistant	11-4	GLVC	??
Overall head coaching record through '05-'06 : 11-52 (.175)