CHADRON - Tim Connealy, who has been a graduate assistant and assistant head coach at the University of Nebraska-Kearney the previous four seasons, has been hired as the head women's basketball coach at Chadron State College, athletic director Brad Smith announced on Tuesday.

Connealy, a Chadron native, replaces Mike Maloney, who resigned late in July.

"I think we've turned a situation that could've been stressful into a positive one by hiring a young coach the caliber of Tim Connealy," Smith said. "He has a tremendous knowledge of the RMAC and a great recruiting ability with a strong following of coaches who respect him. I think he'll take this program to the next level."

Connealy joined the Lopers in 2004 as a graduate assistant and was promoted to assistant coach in the summer of 2006. During his four years working under UNK head coach Carol Russell, the two helped lead the Lopers to an 84-46 record and a 57-19 mark in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, including two NCAA tournament berths. In the 2006-07 season, the Lopers advanced to the Sweet 16 and Connealy was the acting head coach during the Regional Final game against North Dakota while Russell was recovering from giving birth.

"I'm very excited to coach at Chadron State," Connealy said. "It's always been a goal of mine to coach at the college level and CSC is my opportunity to reach that goal. I want to build a program that's not just based on wins and losses, but one that will represent Chadron State in a positive manner."

Connealy played two seasons on the men's basketball team at Chadron State before playing one season at Hastings College. In 2004, he graduated from Hastings College with a degree in secondary education. He is currently pursuing a master's degree in educational administration.

Connealy, who began his coaching career at Harvard High where he was an assistant on the boys team for two years, was instrumental in helping the Loper women be ranked in the top five nationally for overall team GPA. In 2006-07, UNK was second in the nation, and last season the Lopers were fourth.

"The most important thing to me is academics," he said. "I place the utmost importance on it."

Connealy, who graduated from Chadron High School in 1999 and was a starter on the Cardinals' Class B state championship basketball team, was born and raised in Chadron. He was a ball boy for the football team while growing up and often attended CSC basketball games. His older brother Dan graduated from Chadron State and his sister, Mary, played three years for the UNK women's basketball team.

"Coming home is one of the biggest things that drew me to this job," he said. "I thoroughly enjoy my time in Chadron and hopefully I can come back and produce something."