Incarnate Word hires Shane Heirman as head men’s basketball coach

Incarnate Word has announced the hiring of Shane Heirman as its next head men’s basketball coach. Heirman spent the last two years as associate head coach at Central Michigan.

“After a nationwide search and a lot of due diligence, we are excited to welcome Coach Heirman to the UIW program,” AD Richard Duran said in a statement. “Coach Heirman has had a history of success on many levels and we are looking forward to his leadership on the court and his commitment to the UIW Mission off of it.”

Heirman is a Chicago-area native who previously spent four years as an assistant coach at DePaul. Before that, he was the head coach at prep powerhouse La Lumiere in Indiana. He went 82-7 over three years there, coaching three McDonald’s All-Americans and 25 total Division I players.

“It is both an honor and a privilege to devote myself to this endeavor,” Heirman said. “My wife, Claire, and I are thrilled to immerse our family into the UIW and San Antonio communities. We are dedicated to developing our young men in the classroom, on the court, and in the community and we are excited to start building relationships and get to work elevating the men’s basketball program to a championship level.”

While he hasn’t coached in the area, Heirman played his college ball for Doug Wojcik at Tulsa. He helped the Golden Hurricane reach back-to-back NITs in 2009 and 2010 after transferring in from Marquette following his freshman year.

Incarnate Word parted ways with former head coach Carson Cunningham last month after five seasons, during which the Cardinals were 42-105 overall and never finished better than 8th in Southland play. UIW has never been to the NCAA Tournament, having moved up to Division I prior to the 2013-14 season.

credit to Incarnate Word Athletics for the image