Tim Cleary is in the midst of his seventh season as the head men's basketball coach at Pacific University. With seven years under his belt, his tenure is one of the longest in Boxers' history and his 80 wins ranks seventh all-time in annuals.
The efforts by Cleary and his staff have seen 11 Boxers earn all-NWC recognition under his leadership.With double-figure wins over the last five seasons under Cleary, Pacific basketball is on the rise. He is just the third coach in program history to record five-straight, double-figure win seasons.
Last season, Cleary and the Boxers knocked off No. 5 Whitworth for the first win over the Pirates in 16 meetings. The last win for Pacific came back on Feb. 9, 2008 in Forest Grove. The Boxers earned its first win in Spokane since Jan. 23, 2004. Later in the season, Pacific was victorious on the road against Lewis & Clark for the first time since the 1995-96 campaign. True road warriors, the Boxers picked up seven road wins for its most since the 2013-14 campaign.Â
He saw a five-win improvement from his first season to his second campaign, and a six-win climb from the 2012 to 2013 seasons.
The Boxers went 15-10 in 2012-13 and 16-9 in ’13-14. That gave the Boxers their first back-to-back winning seasons since the 1992-93/1993-94 campaigns. Pacific was in the NWC playoff race right up until the final week in both seasons, just missing the tournament by one slot (top four teams qualify).
Cleary arrived in Forest Grove after eight seasons (2002-2010) as the top assistant coach at Boise State, where he helped develop the program into a nationally recognized Division I basketball power in the Northwest. He helped guide the Broncos to a Western Athletic Conference (WAC) championship and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 2008 as well as Sweet 16 appearance in the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) in 2004. The Broncos also had an appearance in the Collegiate Basketball Invitational (CBI) Tournament in 2009.
While Cleary’s coaching experience is largely in Division I programs, his roots are firmly grounded in Division III. Cleary played his collegiate basketball at Carroll University in Waukesha, Wis., a Division III member of the Midwest Conference. He began his career with one season at Willamette, where he played under the legendary Gordie James.
Prior to arriving at Boise State, Cleary spent three seasons (1999-2002) as an assistant coach at UC Irvine, where he recruited, scouted, helped with opponent preparation and directed the team’s basketball camps. He helped lead the Anteaters to back-to-back NIT appearances as well as back-to-back Big West Conference regular season championships in 2001 and 2002.
Cleary’s coaching resume includes two stints as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at NCAA Division II Chico State and one season as an assistant coach at Cal Poly Pomona (NCAA Division II).
Cleary was three-time letterwinner at Carroll and earned All-Midwest Conference academic honors in his senior season. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in biology from Carroll in 1994 and earned a Master’s degree in physical education from Chico State in 2001.
