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John Cleary |
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John Cleary begins his second season at the University of Minnesota as an assistant to head coach Michele Redman. Cleary came to Gold Country after two seasons as an assistant for the Texas Tech women's golf program.
During his two seasons in Lubbock, the Red Raiders qualified for the NCAA East Regional both years, finishing ninth in 2010 and 16th in 2011. Additionally, Tech had three team victories and three individual medalists and Rosalyn Kim advanced to the NCAA Championship in 2010 after finishing third at the East Regional.
Prior to joing the Texas Tech staff, Cleary, one of the top collegiate coaches in the country, spent seven seasons as the head men's coach at Northern Illinois. During his tenure, he led the Huskies to five team titles while mentoring Nick Schenk, the school's first First-Team All-MAC (Mid-American Conference) selection in over two decades. He also tutored Andrew Frame, the MAC Freshman of the Year in 2007.
Just the second head coach in the first 50-years of the Huskies program, Cleary's impact was felt in his first season of 2002-03. During that initial campaign, the Glenview, Ill. native helped lower Northern Illinois' scoring average by more than eight strokes. The Huskies posted top-10 finishes in seven of their 10 tournaments and came home with titles from the Bradley Fall Classic and the Illinois State Intercollegiate.
Cleary earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Kansas in 1991. He began his coaching career in 1997 as an assistant coach at Loyola (Ill.) and then moved on to Northwestern University where he served as an assistant for three seasons with the women's program and one year with the Wildcat men's team. Golf Digest Magazine rated him as the ninth best golf teacher in the state of Illinois in its July 2009 issue.
He is a member of the PGA and played in the 2000 Western Open. In addition, he was the runner-up at the 2000 Illinois PGA Championship and also qualified for six PGA National Club Professional Championships.
Cleary and his wife, Crystal, reside in Minneapolis.
