Kierra McCleary joined the Butler women's basketball coaching staff in June of 2017. A Murfreesboro, Tennessee native, McCleary has previous coaching experience at Northern Illinois, Western Illinois and Lewis. She played college basketball at North Alabama.
"I would like to welcome Kierra to our Bulldog family," Godlevske stated. "She has a reputation of building strong relationships with student athletes, promoting academic success, and she's a tireless recruiter. Kierra is going to fit our Butler values and continue to grow those values within our women's basketball program. I'm excited she decided to join our staff because she is a natural fit!"
McCleary helped Northern Illinois find success in 2016-17 by helping the Huskies post a 21-12 overall record. NIU won two games in the Mid-American Conference Tournament to reach the championship and would end the season with a WNIT appearance. The turnaround was significant as Northern Illinois finished the 2015-16 with just 11 wins and 19 losses. The program had hit a rough patch in recent years with their last winning season coming in 2008-09.
While working at NIU, McCleary spent time working with the team's guards which included Third Team All-MAC selection Ally Lehman. Under McCleary's guidance, Lehman became just the fifth player in NIU history to average a double-double in a single-season.
Before coaching at NIU, McCleary spent two seasons at Western Illinois, where she served as the recruiting coordinator for the Leathernecks. In her first season at WIU, the Leathernecks set a new record for points in a single-season (2,392) and for most field goals made in a season (846).
Western Illinois would go on to finish the 2013-14 season with a 14-16 record. They finished fifth in the Summit League, the Leathernecks best league finish since 2007-08. The team surpassed that standard in 2014-15, finishing 17-13 overall and 9-7 in the Summit League to finish third in the regular season standings. Ashley Luke would finish the season as the Summit League's Player of the Year, as well CoSIDA's Academic All-American of the Year.
Prior to her two seasons at Western Illinois, McCleary worked one season at Lewis, helping the Flyers to the best turnaround in Division II during the 2012-13 season. Lewis finished the year 24-6, earning an NCAA Tournament berth, after finishing the 2011-12 season with an 8-20 mark.
As a player, McCleary was a three-time team captain at North Alabama helping the Lions to an NCAA Tournament berth in 2010-11, the program's first appearance since 1994. In her final season, North Alabama finished 21-7 overall and was a perfect 12-0 in the Gulf South Conference. McCleary graduated from UNA in 2011 with a degree in business administration.
