Cooper Neimand enters his second season as full time assistant coach at Lincoln Memorial in 2022-23, coming off a 2021-22 season when he helped lead the Railsplitters to a South Atlantic Conference regular season championship and NCAA Tournament appearance.
Lincoln Memorial University men’s basketball head coach Jeremiah Samarrippas promoted the former graduate assistant Neimand to a full-time assistant coach for the Railsplitters on Friday, May 7, 2021. Over the previous two seasons, Neimand had been instrumental in LMU’s success, aiding the Railsplitters to 51 victories, three combined South Atlantic Conference championships, two NCAA Division II Championship berths, a Division II Southeast Regional Championship title, and a national semifinal appearance.
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Beginning his tenure at the university during the summer of 2019, Neimand has served as LMU’s player relations coordinator while also assisting in player development, travel, practice plans, scouting and recruiting. Conducting one-on-one workouts and often jumping into the mix as a scout player, Neimand possesses a pedigree of developing players.
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Over his first two years in east Tennessee as a graduate assistant, Neimand worked out some of the best players in Railsplitter hoops history, including All-American guards Courvoisier McCauley and Devin Whitfield, in addition to forward Jordan Guest and four different All-SAC performers.
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A native of Silver Spring, Maryland, Neimand arrived in Harrogate following a two-year stint at fellow Division II member Lander University in Greenwood, South Carolina, where he served as an assistant coach for the Bearcats. Neimand oversaw academic success and played a pivotal role in recruiting, player development and scouting during his time at Lander.
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Before his time in the Palmetto State, Neimand spent four seasons on the coaching staff at Wesleyan Christian Academy in High Point, North Carolina, under head coach and Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) legend Keith Gatlin. While coaching in basketball-rich North Carolina, Neimand worked with 20 collegiate basketball players, including 18 Division I student-athletes and four current NBA players - Theo Pinson of the New York Knicks, Harry Giles of the Portland Trail Blazers, Jaylen Hoard of the Oklahoma City Thunder, and 2021 NBA Draft second-round pick Aaron Wiggins. During Neimand’s four seasons mentoring the Trojans, Wesleyan Christian Academy played for three North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association (NCISAA) state championships, winning the state title in 2014 and compiling a 105-28 (.789) overall record.
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A 2014 graduate of High Point University, Neimand received his bachelor’s degree in human relations before attaining a Master of Education (M.Ed.) in educational leadership from LMU in 2020.
Neimand currently resides in Harrogate.
