LSU Gold

Craig Bere Season 2024

LSU
Craig Bere
Title
Assistant Coach
Email
cbere@lsu.edu

Craig Bere returns for his third season on the LSU volleyball staff. He is involved in practice planning, recruiting and game strategy. On the court, he handles the Tiger setters.

In 2005, he helped guide LSU to the first SEC Western Division championship in school history and its first NCAA Tournament berth since 1992. The Tigers posted the fourth best hitting percentage in the SEC, while the LSU setting duo of Daniela Romero and Heather Fierce both ranked in the top 10 in the league in assists per game.

The head coach at the University of Southern Indiana from 2002-03, Bere led the Screaming Eagles to one Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament title and to within three points of a second consecutive championship and bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament.

He guided setter Kim Boehmer to honorable mention All-America honors, the first player in USI history to earn the honor, after she was named to the 2002 and 2003 All-GLVC first team. Kristi Kavanaugh was also named a CoSIDA first-team Academic All-American under his helm.

In 2002, Bere led the Screaming Eagles to their first bid in the NCAA Division II Tournament and first tournament win after winning the GLVC Tournament crown. Despite just two seasons at Southern Indiana, he was the third winningest head coach in the program’s 24-year history, posting a 47-17 (.734) record.

Prior to taking the job at USI, Bere was an assistant coach at Mississippi State from 1997-2002, where he coached along side current Tiger assistant John Blackwell. He served as the coordinator of the Bulldog defense and worked closely with MSU’s outside hitters on the court. Bere coordinated MSU’s recruiting efforts and handled additional administrative duties off the court.

A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Bere was a standout four-sport letterman at Doss High School, competing in football, basketball, baseball, and soccer.

He attended Morehead State University, where he was a three-year letterwinner on the Eagle football team and became a member of the men’s volleyball club team, leading to his career as a volleyball coach.

He joined Morehead’s varsity women’s volleyball coaching staff in 1993 as a student assistant. He was appointed to a full-time assistant coach’s position in 1994, first as an undergraduate and then as a graduate student.

While Bere was on the Morehead State staff, the Eagles claimed regular season Ohio Valley Conference runner-up honors, captured the OVC Tournament title, and advanced to the 1993 National Invitational Volleyball Classic. In 1995 Morehead State marched to the finals of the OVC Tournament, taking runner-up honors.

A member of the American Volleyball Coaches Association, Bere has served as a camp instructor in summer volleyball camps in Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Michigan.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in health in 1995 from Morehead State before receiving his master’s degree in health, physical education, and recreation in 1997. He and his wife, Shannon, who also works at LSU, are expecting their first child this fall.

The Bere File
Name:
 Craig Bere
Wife: Shannon
Birthdate: July 13, 1972
Hometown: Louisville, Ky.
Alma Mater: Morehead State
– Bachelor of Arts in Health (1995)
– Master of Arts in Health, Physical Education and Recreation (1997)

College Coaching Experience
LSU Assistant Coach (2004-present)
Southern Indiana Head Coach (2002-2004)
Mississippi State Assistant Coach (1997-2002)
Morehead State Assistant Coach (1994-1996)

Playing Experience
Morehead State volleyball club team (Four years)
Morehead State football team (1990-1992)