Former Wayne State women’s assistant basketball coach Kelly Kielsmeier has been named the interim head coach at Upper Iowa after it was announced Sunday by UIU athletic director Rick Hartzel that current head coach Micha Thompson has agreed to step down.
The Peacocks are 3-13 so far this season and have lost 32 consecutive games in Northern Sun Conference play. The team’s last win in NSIC play was a 51-43 win over Concordia-St. Paul on Feb. 11, 2017. The first win in their current 32-game NSIC losing streak came the following Friday in a 91-51 loss at Wayne State.
"In my career as an athletic director, I have always believed that changing a head coach during a season is not often for the betterment of the program or, more importantly, the student-athletes," Hartzell said. "But in this circumstance, it is evident that what is best for our current student-athletes and for the overall good of the program, is to make this change now. While Micha has brought quality, high-character student-athletes with a never-give-up attitude to the program, we simply have not been performing at a competitive level. Furthermore, our struggles this season do not bode well for the future. On behalf of Peacock Athletics, I want to thank Micha, Ryan and the entire Thompson family for their commitment to Upper Iowa and wish them all of the best in the future."
The 2018-19 season marks Thompson's third as the Head Coach of the Peacocks. During her time at UIU, the program has posted an overall record of 9-63 and a Northern Sun Conference mark of 4-48 including their current 32-game losing streak in the league. Upper Iowa will honor the terms of Thompson's contract, which ends this spring.
Kielsmeier was an assistant coach for his brother, Chris Kielsmeier, during his 10 years at Wayne State College. Wayne State was 237-72 in the 10 years the Kielsmeiers ran the Wildcat women’s basketball program before Chris took a job at Div. I Cleveland State.
Kelly Kielsmeier was first named the associate head coach at Upper Iowa prior to the start of the 2018-19 season. He also was his brother’s assistant coach at NCAA Div. III Howard Payne University, where they won a national title, and also served as a head coach at Southwestern Community College in Iowa, where he coached the team to the Blackhawk Community College East tournament title in 2005.
A national search for a new head coach will begin in March. There is no set timeline to make a hire, and there will be no comment on the search or the candidates until a hire is announced.
Kielsmeier's first two games as the new Peacocks coach will be on the road this weekend, including Saturday's game at Wayne State.
