Brase (pronounced BRA-zee), owner of four Midwest Conference championships and two NCAA Division III Tournament berths, has elevated Cornell's women's basketball program to unprecedented heights through 20 seasons at the helm.
Brase is the winningest coach in Cornell history with 243 victories. He owns more than 400 wins in 33 years as a head coach.
The Rams are an impressive 188-111 since the 2012-13 season, highlighted by a 143-61 mark in MWC play. The Rams have qualified for the conference tournament 11 times since 2012, reaching the MWC championship game five times during the span.
The 2012-13 MWC Coach of the Year, Brase has coached 18 all-conference performers and four all-region selections since 2013, including a pair of MWC Players of the Year in Diamond Boyd (2018, 2017) and Camille Marie (2013). Erin Knowles was tabbed the 2024-25 Region 9 Rookie of the Year by D3hoops.com.
Brase piloted the Rams to their second NCAA berth in 2017-18. The team posted a 20-6 record, claimed a share of the MWC regular-season title and won the MWC Tournament crown.
The 2016-17 Rams finished 20-5, captured the MWC regular-season title with a 17-1 record and reached the championship game of the MWC Tournament.
Cornell's 2015-16 squad posted a 19-6 overall record. The 2014-15 team went 15-10 and featured the program's most prolific pair of classmates in Rikki Mulloy and Taylor Dicus, who graduated with a combined 2,725 career points.
The Rams registered their first-ever back-to-back 20-win seasons in 2012-13 and 2013-14. During that span, the team went 33-3 in league play with a pair of MWC regular-season championships. The 2013-14 Rams fashioned a 20-4 record and claimed a share of the MWC regular-season crown with a 16-2 mark.
Brase's 2012-13 team, picked eighth in the MWC preseason poll, turned those projections upside down during an incredible 25-2 campaign. The Rams won the program's first conference championship in more than three decades and made their first appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament.
The Rams captured the MWC Tournament title and advanced to the Round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament with a resounding 76-54 regional win at home over St. Scholastica. Cornell's record-setting ride ended in a 53-52 loss to St. Thomas in the second round. The Rams shattered the old school mark of 18 wins. Cornell finished 16th in the final USA Today Sports Top 25 Coaches' Poll and 20th in the D3hoops.com Poll.
The 2012-13 squad started the season 15-0 and finished with 14 victories of at least 20 points. The Rams ranked among the Division III leaders in field goal percentage (third, 45.8), rebound margin (fourth, +12.6 rpg), assists (fourth, 17.7 apg) and won-loss percentage (ninth, 92.6). Marie led the record-setting 2012-13 team and became Cornell's first women's basketball all-American (Fourth Team, D3hoops.com).
Brase, a 1990 Cornell graduate, spent 11 seasons coaching at Coe, where he left as the winningest men's coach in school history. Coe was 90-50 in Iowa Conference games his final seven seasons.
Before leading the Coe men's basketball program, Brase served as an assistant men's coach at both Cornell and Coe and as the head boys' basketball coach at Anamosa (Iowa) High School. Brase helped guide the 1990-91 Kohawks to a south division tournament berth and the 1993-94 Rams to the Midwest Conference Championship and the NCAA Division III tournament. In two years at Anamosa, Brase compiled a record of 27-13 and was named Big Bend Coach of the Year in 1991-92.
Brase is a 1986 graduate of Wapsie Valley (Iowa) High School and earned a bachelor's degree in physical education and secondary education from Cornell in 1990. He received a master's degree in physical education from the University of Iowa in 1992.
Brase's teams play stifling man-to-man defense and run on every make or miss. He has implemented defensive and offensive schemes to compliment one another by putting maximum pressure on the opponents for an entire game. In order to achieve this, his teams execute simple fundamentals at an extreme pace in practice - a pace their opponents haven't trained for and cannot handle mentally and physically during the duration of a game.
Brase and his wife, Ann, a 1990 Cornell graduate, live in Mount Vernon and have four children: Ella, Owen, Evan and Nora.
"A Message From Coach Brase"
Basketball is a unique tool in the educational process. My goal as a coach is to make basketball one of the most educational experiences in my players' collegiate years. We want players who are committed to higher education, who have respect for what we believe in, who are positive representatives of the college and our basketball program and who have the ability, desire and discipline to compete for Midwest Conference and national championships.
It is our goal not only to have students graduate on time, but also provide them with experiences that go beyond basketball and the classroom. Experiences that will allow them to learn, mature and lead. We foster an environment that allows freedom for students to make decisions and the guidance for them to be able to make the right choices and to correct mistakes.
We believe that the ability to compete at an extraordinary level must be targeted in our recruiting efforts. We want players who have high expectations and a willingness to go after their dreams. The effort and attitude of an individual are just as important to us as their skills.
Our program is challenging and rewarding. We have high expectations for our team as people, students and players. The expectations of our staff will not only challenge students, but also serve to guide and support them.
After graduation, a basketball player is left with one thing from her involvement in a program - the "experience". The "experience" refers to the lessons and values learned, the personal relationships that develop and being a part of something larger than herself. This is an awesome opportunity and one that is often hard to duplicate in other areas of life.
Thank you for taking a serious look at Cornell College and our women's basketball program!
Coach Brase
