In April 2023, Brianna Brennan was named the ninth head coach in Hillsdale College women’s basketball history, completing a meteoric rise for the talented young professional, going from a successful two-sport athlete at NCAA DII Gannon University to running her own program in seven seasons.

In two seasons in charge of the program, Brennan has lived up to her reputation as a rising star in the profession. After a 17-win season in her first campaign, Brennan helped lead the Chargers to their best season in 16 years in 2024-25, winning 21 games for the first time since 2009, earning a runner-up finish in the G-MAC and guiding the program to its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2018. She's overseen the successful conclusion of record-setting careers for Sydney Mills and Caitlin Splain over the past two seasons, and helped Lauren McDonald earn two All-G-MAC honors.

Thanks to her recent success, Brennan is well on her way to achieving her goal of helping the Hillsdale College basketball program to consistent conference and regional success, while maintaining the high standards of academic achievement and character the program has been known for over the years.

Prior to being named head coach of the Chargers in 2023, Brennan spent two seasons as the lead assistant at Hillsdale, and helped lead the Chargers to 30 wins after Hillsdale had finished with just 10 in the two seasons prior. Brennan was active in recruiting, scouting, assembling game plans and running practices, playing an important role in big improvements for the Chargers at both ends of the floor.

Her success in that role, and her familiarity with the program and the current roster made her a natural choice for the position when it came open in April of 2023.

Prior to Hillsdale, Brennan spent two years as a graduate assistant with Eastern Illinois, working with a program that posted a 30-27 record the past two seasons and made the Ohio Valley Conference tournament in both 2020 and 2021.

At Eastern Illinois, she helped the program with scouting, managed game day operations and equipment, and played an important role in individual skill development as well.

A Michigan native who grew up in Woodhaven, a suburb of Detroit, and starred at Woodhaven High School, Brennan played three years of women’s basketball at Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania, helping the Knights to two NCAA Tournament appearances during her time with the team and finishing 11th in Gannon history in career blocked shots with 80.

Brennan also starred on Gannon’s volleyball team as a middle blocker, appearing in the NCAA Tournament in both 2016 and 2017 and helping the Knights to their first-ever NCAA Division II Final Four appearance in volleyball in 2017.

During her time at Gannon, she also created the Shooting for Smiles Basketball Clinic, developing and helping fund and direct an annual basketball camp for people with special needs.

After graduating from Gannon in 2017 with a B.A. in Education, Brennan spent a year coaching at the AAU level with the Erie Irish program, as well as teaching in the Fairview School District in Fairview, Pennsylvania, before taking the graduate assistant job at Eastern Illinois. She also earned a master’s degree in Sports Administration while coaching the Panthers, in 2021.