Lisa Bishop tabbed as Solon coach

SOLON - Lisa Bishop is back from the Middle East, and ready for her first assignment as a head basketball coach.

Pending board approval, Solon High School has chosen Bishop to take over its girls' basketball program.

'We're very excited about having Coach Bishop lead our girls' basketball program,” said Solon Athletics Director Keith McSweeney. 'We believe our girls are going to love Lisa's positive energy and passion. She brings a wealth of playing experience and knowledge to our program. But I'm most excited about her serving as a tremendous role model for our student-athletes.”

A former all-stater at Saint Ansgar High School as Lisa Kriener, Bishop played four seasons at Iowa State (2001-05), participating in two NCAA tournaments.

Most recently, Bishop, 32, and her husband Andy taught and coached in Iraq (2011-14), where they founded Highest Hoops, an Iraqi youth basketball club, and worked developing basketball partnerships with existing clubs in the Kurdistan region.

Prior to that, she coached basketball and volleyball at Northwest Junior High in Iowa City. She also served as a game-day chapel for the Iowa women's basketball team for a season.

'When I heard there was an opening (at Solon), at first I didn't think it would be good timing,” said Bishop, the mother of two young children (with another on the way). 'But the more Andy and I talked, the more it sounded like a neat opportunity at a neat time.”

Bishop succeeds Tony Nicol, who stepped down after compiling a 34-34 record in three seasons.

'Lisa is a very impressive individual,” McSweeney said. 'She has that ‘it' quality. She's a trained educator, although not currently teaching, and we feel extremely lucky to have her on board.”

The Spartans were 13-9 last season and return four of their top five scorers for 2015-16 - Josie Durr, Hannah Bluder, Nichole Oberthien and Dakota Doyle.

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