Returning for his eight season as head coach of Texas A&M University-Commerce, Neil Piper is looking to build on last season's Lone Star Conference Tournament Championship for the 2005 campaign and advance in the NCAA Div. II Tournament.

The Lions, who were ranked as high as 14th in the nation in the middle of the season, suffered a first-round exit to Regis (Colo.) in the South Central Regional but not before claiming the conference tournament with a double-overtime win against West Texas. Earlier in the season the Lions knocked down the then-No. 2 Lady Buffs, the highest ranked opponent the Lions have defeated in school history.

In 2003, the Lions tied Piper's 1999 team with a school record for the most wins in a season (16), including a shutout of Franklin Pierce, which the Lions face again in the second game of the season in New Hampshire. He moved into a tie for 17th place for the highest active career winning percentage among Division II coaches.

Piper's teams have proven to be a quick study. Under his direction, it took two years to engrave his name in not only A&M-C history, but LSC history too. He led the Lions to their first-ever LSC title and the conference's first berth in the NCAA tournament.

During the 1999 season not only did the Lions gain a NCAA berth but his squad won the Midwest Regional Championships and just missed the cut on a Final Four with a double-overtime defeat to the eventual national runner-up.

Neil joined the A&M-Commerce soccer coaching staff as an assistant in 1997 under Mike Munch. Along with the head coaching title, he also begins his first year as the Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance.

The Lions' inaugural year of 1998 with Piper as head coach saw their best season yet with a 13-6 record, only to re-write the record a year later with a 16-4-1 season.

With one of the toughest schedules in the nation, injuries had haunted the Lions in seasons past, holding A&M-Commerce to a 9-6-1 record in 2000 and a 9-8-2 mark in 2001. The 2002 season was a success with a 14-3-2 record for defeating several ranked teams.

A 1996 graduate of Wichita State University, with a bachelor's degree in education, Piper went on to complete his master's degree in Sports Administration in 1998 from WSU.

Piper has worked at all levels in soccer. His experience includes not only work at the high school and under-19 levels, but in 1996 he worked as an intern in the public relations office for the Kansas City Wizards of Major League Soccer.

Prior to transferring to WSU, Piper attended Penn State University and Friends University, playing soccer at both institutions.

He was a member of the 1993 Penn State team, which became the first Nittany Lions athletic team to capture a Big 10 title. He also was named to the 1993 All-Big 10 First Team.

While attending Friends University, Piper contributed to the team, being named in the NAIA top-20 for the first time in school history and was named the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year. During his stay at WSU, Piper was sports editor of the Wichita State Sunflower and was a correspondent for the Wichita Eagle.

Born September 8, 1972, in Portsmouth, England, Piper is the son of Norman (former soccer professional in England and U.S.) and Cheryl Piper. Neil came to the United States in 1981 and remains a British citizen.

He is married to the former Anne Cillessen and they have two children, five-year-old Cole and two-year-old daughter Lauren.