Ben Wierzba is in his third year as an Associate Head Coach with Miami women's basketball.
In year one with the Red and White, Wierzba was instrumental in the development of Amber Tretter, who earned a spot on the MAC All-Freshman Team as well as All-MAC Honorable Mention squad. The freshman averaged 10.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per contest and set a new Miami record for freshmen with 222 rebounds in a season. Wierzba also helped secure one of the best defenses in the MAC, holding opponents to 60.4 points (third in MAC) and allowing a MAC low 38.1% field goal percentage to the opposition.
In year two, the RedHawks went 19-12 overall and 11-7 in MAC play, earning the No. 5 seed in the conference tournament and advanced to the WNIT for the first time since 2018-19. Miami added 10 wins to the previous season's output, matching a program record for biggest single-season turnaround in Miami women's basketball history. Wierzba once again worked with Tretter, who earned All-MAC honorable mention as a sophomore.
The wins weren't the only thing that improved in year two with the RedHawks Miami's offense jumped from a 53.9 average in year one to 66.5 points/game in 2024-25. While the offense made incredible strides, Miami's calling card was on the defensive end. The RedHawks surrendered a MAC best 59.1 points/game (66th nationally), while also leading the conference in steals and were second in turnovers forced per game.
Wierzba has 24 years of coaching experience, including four as a head coach. He spent eight seasons as an assistant coach for the women’s basketball program for Mercer University. During his time, the Bears compiled a 166-80 overall and 87-24 SoCon record. They advanced to four NCAA Tournaments (2018, 2019, 2021, 2022), two WNIT Tournaments (2016, 2017) and captured five regular season championships in Wierzba’s eight-year span.
With the Bears, he helped produce one WNBA Draft selection, five conference player of the year winners, four defensive player of the year honors and two freshman of the year award winners.
Before joining Mercer, Wierzba coached men’s basketball for several programs. He spent time as an assistant coach at SIU Edwardsville (2014-15) and was the head men’s basketball coach at the University of Illinois Springfield (2010-14). Wierzba also had stops at St. Joseph’s College (2001-02), the United States Military Academy (2002-04), Lewis University (2004-06), SIU Edwardsville (2006-07) and the University on Evansville (2007-10).
Wierzba played two years at Lake Lands College (1995-97), before playing one season at South Alabama (1997-98) and a final year at SIU Edwardsville (1998-99). He completed his liberal arts degree from SIU Edwardsville in 2000.
He is married to his wife, Liz, and has three children (Addy, Livvy and Eli).
