A 1977 graduate of Mississippi College, Coach Nienaber holds a BS and an MS degree in History and also an MA degree in Education from Murray State University.

While at Mississippi College, he lettered all four years in basketball under, Doug Hines. After graduating in 1977, he assisted Coach Hines’ 1977-78 Gulf South Conference champions, a team that was ranked as high as 8th in NCAA Division II. The following year Nienaber took over the reins as head coach at Clinton High School in Mississippi. In his five years at Clinton, he completely turned around a basketball program that had been down for twenty years. His 1981-82 Clinton team, finished 25-7 and was ranked as high as sixth in the Mississippi High School polls. During his last years at Clinton, Nienaber guided his team to two consecutive twenty-plus victory seasons, finishing 21-13 while winning three major tournament championships which ended up being the first twenty win seasons at Clinton High since 1960.

Coach Nienaber arrived at Christian Brothers University in September 1999, after 16 successful seasons at Bethel College in McKenzie, Tennessee where he guided his teams to 242 victories, making him the winningest coach in Bethel history. His teams were always respected as overachievers, as his Wildcats posted upset victories over highly ranked NAIA opponents in each of his 16 seasons. Nienaber’s victims included perennial NAIA powerhouses David Lipscomb, Belmont, and Union, as well as top-flight NCAA programs at Northern Kentucky, North Alabama, and Tennessee State.

In addition to team success, Nienaber’s players also earned plenty of individual recognition. He coached five NAIA All-American post players, 20 All-Conference selections, and 9 NAIA Academic All-Americans. The academic success of his players is further reflected by the 87.5% graduation rate during his 16 years at Bethel College.  In recognition of the accomplishments of his teams on and off the floor, coach Nienaber was inducted into the Bethel College Athletic Hall-of-Fame in November 2002.

Since arriving in Memphis, Coach Nienaber has been laying the building blocks for a competitive program at the Division II level.  In his four years at CBU, the Bucs have posted upset wins over NCAA D-II playoff teams including:  Alabama-Huntsville, LeMoyne-Owen, and Delta State.

Nienaber has also upgraded the level of competition that the Bucs face every year, facing Division I programs like the University of Memphis, Ole Miss, and this season, Troy State.  On the Division II level, the Bucs have participated in the Northern Kentucky University tip-off tournament.

The 2003-04 season will be Coach Nienaber’s fifth at Christian Brothers University. He and his wife Vickie have two sons, Michael and Eddie.