Hannah Burleson, who had been student assistant at Lamar University under current UTRGV head coach Larry Tidwell in 2012-13, joined the program as a women’s basketball assistant coach on May 15, 2013.
When Burleson first joined the program in 2013-14, she was the youngest full time assistant coach in NCAA Division I women's basketball.
During her four years with the program, Burleson has helped the program reach new heights, achieving the first winning season (19-15) and postseason appearance (WBI) in program history in 2014-15, helping the team to sustain that success by going 19-14 and reaching the WNIT in 2015-16, and then helping the team to an 19-14 record, its first postseason win, a spot in the WBI Quarterfinals, and the Preseason WNIT in 2016-17.
As part of her daily off the court duties, Burleson has assisted with academics, marketing/PR, travel, housing, admissions, camps, overseeing student managers, community service, equipment, and recruiting. On the floor, Burleson assists with the guards and special situations.
In 2012-13, Burleson helped Lamar to a 22-11 record (12-6 Southland) and a spot in the WBI Quarterfinals while working toward a master’s degree in educational administration.
Burleson played two years of college basketball at Schreiner, where she started at guard both years. As a sophomore in 2009-10, Burleson missed over half the season due to a career-ending injury. The previous season, Burleson earned American Southwest Conference All-Freshmen Team honors.
Burleson excelled academically, earning Academic All-American Southwest Conference honors as a sophomore. She also earned a spot on the honor roll in the fall of 2008 and spring of 2009, as well as the dean’s list in the fall of 2009, spring of 2010, fall of 2010 and spring of 2011.
Burleson transferred to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in 2011-12 and graduated with honors in Communication Studies/Public Relations. She earned her Master’s in Secondary Education from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the spring of 2015.
Although Burleson moved around a lot growing up, she identifies as being from the South Texas/Corpus Christi area. She attended most of her high school years at Rockport-Fulton High School in Rockport, but graduated from Nueces Canyon High School in Barksdale in 2008.
Burleson is the daughter of long time Texas high school teachers and coaches, Stuart and Marla Burleson, who currently reside in Riviera. She has one sister, Haley, who is a special education teacher in Corpus Christi.
