Former Cincinnati guard Shareese Ulis-McBrayer joined the Canisius women's basketball staff as an assistant coach in July, 2022.
Ulis-McBrayer comes to Canisius after spending the previous four seasons as an assistant coach at Owens Community College in Perrysburg, Ohio. She will focus her attention on the Golden Griffins' point guards and combo guards.
In her second year on Main Street, Ulis-McBrayer helped oversee the Griffs win total improve to 17 overall and 11 conference wins, the most wins in both catagories since the 2008-09 season. With her mentorship, guard Athina Lexa was tabbed MAAC Sixth Player of the Year, the second Canisius player to ever earn the award and first since Ella Radke in 2008-09, while forward Sisi Eleko was a unanimous All-MAAC First Team selection. She also helped guide the team to their first berth in the semifinal round of the MAAC Championship since the 2008-09 season with their 58-55 win over Manhattan.
During her first season on Main Street in 2022-23, Ulis-McBrayer helped Canisius improve its overall and conference win totals by three from the season before. Under her mentorship, junior Dani Haskell earned All-MAAC Third Team honors while freshman Sisi Eleko earned six MAAC weekly awards and was tabbed to the All-MAAC Rookie Team.
During the 2021-22 season, Ulis-McBrayer was part of the Owens Community College coaching staff that helped lead the Express to the NJCAA Division III national championship after the team posted a 27-4 overall record. While serving as the program's head of recruiting, she worked with and developed five All-America honorees, a national Player of the Year award winner and multiple all-conference, all-district and all-tournament team selections.
"We are thrilled to welcome coach Shareese Ulis-McBrayer to our Griff family," Canisius head coach Sahar Nusseibeh said at the time of her hire. "Coach U brings a wealth of knowledge, and will not only develop our perimeters and help take them to the next level on the court, but she will use her experience to connect with our team off the court as well. Coach U is a winner - her national championship with Owens speaks for itself. Her 'find a way' mentality, her daily habits and her desire to be the best while helping others be their best are her separators. She has immediately added value since coming to Main Street."
Prior to joining the staff at Owens Community College, Ulis-McBrayer served as a graduate assistant at Detroit Mercy for two seasons, where she was a part of all team operations. Before joining the Titans' staff, she spent the three years making various stops at both the college and high school level. In 2013-14, she was an assistant women's basketball coach at Moberly Area Community College in Moberly, Mo., helping the squad finish with an overall record of 21-7. The Greyhounds also had five players sign with Division I programs following that season. She previously served as an assistant coach with her alma mater Waite High School (2012-13) and Start High School (2011-12) in her hometown of Toledo, Ohio.
Ulis-McBrayer began her collegiate playing career at Trinity Valley Community College (2007-09) in Athens, Texas, where she guided the Lady Cardinals to the NJCAA National Tournament as a freshman and sophomore. As a sophomore, she averaged 12.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 3.0 steals per game, en route to being named all-conference and honorable mention All-Region 14. She later transferred to Cincinnati, where she started all 59 games in her two years with the Bearcats, averaging 11.4 points as a junior and 13.7 points in her senior campaign.
In high school, she was named the Toledo Player of the Year on three occasions, District Player of the Year twice, and was a member of the All-State Team two times. She was also nominated for the McDonald's All-American Team as a senior, and finished her career as the all-time leading scorer in Waite High School history.
Ulis-McBrayer earned her undergraduate degree in sociology from Cincinnati and later went on to earn her master's degree in liberal studies from Detroit-Mercy.
