Carthage College Athletics

Tim Bernero was the women’s basketball coach from 2003-23 (311-208, 20 years) and ranks fourth on the all-time College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin conference wins list (158-116 thru 2021-22). His 302 career victories rank second among all active CCIW women's basketball coaches. With Carthage’s win over Coe College on Nov. 27, 2010, Bernero passed Diane Mizerka on the Carthage wins list.

Bernero has helped Carthage reach the upper echelon of NCAA Division III women’s basketball, averaging just over 16 wins over the past 10 seasons. The program has consistently been ranked in the top-25 and in the national statistical rankings over that period, while Bernero’s teams have an 8-5 record in NCAA tournament play.

The team led the nation in field-goal percentage in both 2010 (.468) and 2012 (.462). In 2014, Carthage led NCAA Division III in three-point field-goal percentage (.393) and finished second in field-goal percentage (Carthage-record .497).
 
In 2014, the team won a school-record 26 games en route to a second-straight CCIW championship and won a second-consecutive CCIW Women’s Basketball Tournament title. The 2014 team appeared in its third NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Championship "Sweet 16" in the previous five seasons and finished the year ranked eighth in the national poll. The 2014 Lady Reds also made another appearance in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Academic Top-25 Team Honor Roll.  Bernero was named both Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Central Region “Coach of the Year” and CCIW “Coach of the Year” in 2014.

Bernero was named the CCIW “Coach of the Year” and WBCA Central Region “Coach of the Year”  in 2013 after a 24-win season, a conference championship, a CCIW tournament title and his team’s third NCAA appearance.

In 2012, Carthage advanced to the NCAA “elite eight,” winning 23 games and finishing the season ranked ninth in the “D3hoops.com” poll, while playing the second-toughest schedule in the nation.

Bernero’s 2011 team was ranked as high as fifth in the “D3hoops.com” poll and was ranked fourth among NCAA Division III teams in the 2011 Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Academic Top-25 Team Honor Roll.
 
His 2010 team advanced to the NCAA “sweet 16” and finished the year ranked 11th in the “D3hoops.com” national poll. Bernero was named the CCIW “Co-Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year” in 2010.

Bernero was named interim coach in September 2003 and assumed permanent duties in February 2004 after serving seven years at Carthage as an assistant men’s basketball coach. During that time, he helped the men's team compile a 136-49 record with three CCIW championships, three appearances in the NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Championship and a third-place national finish in 2002.

Before starting at Carthage in the 1996-97 academic year, Bernero spent nine years as an assistant men’s basketball coach, two years at Elmhurst College (1995-96), three years at North Park University (1992-94) and four years at the University of Chicago (1988-91).

A native of Buffalo Grove, Ill., Bernero graduated from Lake Forest College in 1987 with a bachelor's degree in business. As a member of the men’s basketball team, he is the Foresters’ eighth all-time leading scorer. His illustrious playing career landed him a spot in the Lake Forest College Athletic Hall of Fame on October 7, 2017. He earned his master's degree in business administration from North Park in 1993. Bernero completed a four-year term on the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Championship Committee in April 2012.

He and his wife, Rachel (Pearson) Bernero, live in Kenosha, Wis., with their daughter, Eleanor, son Anthony, and daughter Gianna. Rachel, a former women’s basketball player at North Park University and a four-time All-CCIW honoree between 1991 and 1994, holds CCIW records for career points (1,102), career field goals (460), career rebounds (680), season points (334 in 1994), season field goals (145 in 1994) and field goals in a game (16 vs. Illinois Wesleyan in 1994).

Tim Bernero File

Education
Bachelor's Degree (Business) - Lake Forest College, 1987
Master's Degree (Business Administration) - North Park University, 1993

Resume
Assistant Men's Basketball Coach - University of Chicago, 1988-91
Assistant Men's Basketball Coach - North Park University, 1992-94
Assistant Men's Basketball Coach - Elmhurst College, 1995-96
Assistant Men's Basketball Coach - Carthage College, 1996-02
Head Women's Basketball Coach - Carthage College, 2003-present