Current University of Houston Assistant Coach Hannah Burandt has been tabbed as the new Head Coach for the Cleveland State Men’s and Women’s Swimming & Diving team. This will mark Burandt’s first collegiate head coaching stint.
Back in February of this year – and just a week out from the Horizon League Championships, CSU’s conference meet – former head coach Paul Graham announced that he will be resigning from the position. At the time we reported it, it was unclear as for the reason why he was resigning. In late March, however, Cleveland.com reported that Graham resigned following the University launching an internal investigation into the drug use on various men’s athletic teams. According to the same website, five swimmers received disciplinary actions.
Burandt will join the Vikings’ squad after coaching at Houston for five straight seasons. Her first collegiate coaching experience was when she coached at Oberlin College from 2011-13. During her time there, the Oberlin Yeowomen and Yeomen recorded their highest finish at the NCAA Division III Championships in almost 20 years at 30th overall. Additionally, 39 individual program records were broken while she was on staff.
The next coaching position Burandt served in was as a Volunteer Assistant for the Louisville Cardinals from 2013-14. On top of structuring practices and developing their recruiting database, she also taught courses as a member of Louisville’s Sports Administration Department.
During the 2014-15 season, Burandt was an assistant coach for the University of Georgetown. That season, both the men’s and women’s teams placed second at the Big East Conference Championships. A total of 23 Hoyas swimmers were placed on the All- Big East team, and 17 program records were rewritten.
Burandt attended Eastern Michigan University as an undergraduate and swam all four years, majoring in secondary math and math education. She helped her team win conference titles in both 2006 and 2007, and was an NCAA qualifier in the 200 and 500 frees, and the 800 free-relay.
Well deserved. Hannah is smart, knows how to connect with her athletes, and an amazingly positive person. More programs should be putting capable women in charge of both teams!!
Congrats coach! Looking forward to working with you soon!
Great hire! Congrats, Hannah!
Congrats Hannah! So proud of you!
Congrats Hannah! A long time coming!
Great leader that knows how to connect with a variety of personalities. Will never give up on her athletes.
A win for the school and the coach! Congratulations, Hannah and CSU!!
Look for more CSU alums to come back to help reshape this program. Possibly a Pieter Ritz from UC would be an excellent hire.
I don’t know that this would be a big upgrade in jobs for him. Other than the allure of working at your alma mater, Cleveland State doesn’t really offer much that Cincinnati is lacking in terms of career building.
Except for the fact that Cleveland State has more scholarships.
And according to Swimulator, Cincinnati would have dominated Cleveland State last season head to head in both the men’s and women’s meets. So, not sure that a few extra scholarships will impact someone’s career enough to be worth a lateral move from a more successful team to a less successful team.
(Also – Cleveland State used to have more scholarships than Cincinnati, c. 5-10 years ago, but according to people connected to the programs that I asked about it – that’s no longer the case. Cincinnati is fully funded).
Congrats, Hannah!