CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Southeast Missouri women's basketball has announced the hiring of former assistant coach Mike Geary to the program for the 2023-24.
Coach Geary will serve as an assistant coach to head coach
Rekha Patterson as she begins her ninth season with the program.
Geary was on SEMO's staff during the 2020-21 season before leaving to go to Missouri Valley-member Bradley for two seasons. He has spent the last two seasons at Southern Illinois as an assistant.
Geary has 19 years of head coaching experience with a 76- percent winning percentage under his belt.
Before Rhode Island, Geary spent five years at Saint Louis, starting as an assistant coach in June 2013 after four seasons as an assistant at the University of Detroit Mercy. He was promoted to associate head coach at SLU in June 2014. He helped lead SLU's program to two WNIT appearances and one Atlantic-10 regular-season co-championship during his tenure.
While with the Bilikens, Geary had five players named all-conference as well as two player of the year awards. SLU made the WNIT three times.
Detroit Mercy posted a 21-13 record and won the Women's Basketball Invitational with Geary on staff in 2012-13. That followed a 2011-12 campaign that saw the Titans go 20-14 and earn a WNIT bid. During Geary's tenure, Detroit Mercy improved its NCAA Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) from 220 to 97. Detroit Mercy also appeared in the WNIT one time and had four athletes named to the all-conference team.
Geary also spent two seasons as an assistant coach alongside Patterson at Ball State. They helped guide the 2006-07 Cardinals to a 24-7 ledger, the Mid-American Conference West Division title and a WNIT berth. While at Ball State, they had one student athlete named to all-conference team.
He had success as a head coach at the NCAA Division II level, winning 417 games. Geary led Lake Superior State to the 1988 NCAA Tournament round of 16 in his second season, and the Lakers were 47-10 in his two campaigns at the helm. As head coach, Geary led the Lakers to a pair of NCAA appearances and had five all-conference players.
Geary then embarked on a stellar 17-year stint at Northern Michigan, where his teams compiled a 370-123 record and enjoyed 12 winning seasons, including eight in succession with 20 or more victories. As head coach, Geary had eleven NCAA Tournament appearances. He had 20 all-conference players, and six athletes earn player of the year titles.
Geary's Northern Michigan teams captured seven GLIAC Tournament crowns, including four-straight from 1995 to 1998. The Wildcats played in seven NCAA regional championship games and his players earned five All-America awards to go along with six GLIAC Most Valuable Player accolades.
Geary has three sons, Sean, Tyler, and Cruz.
