Kyle Conley is entering his 11th season as the head coach of the Storm men’s basketball program and 18th overall in 2026-27.
Conley joined the Storm staff in 2009 as an assistant and was promoted to associate head coach in 2013. As a result, he was a key component through the Storm’s transition into NCAA Division II, the GLIAC, and now the G-MAC. Since 2010, the Storm have improved their league win total nine times, including the historic 2025-26 season where the Storm finished 23-9 overall and 15-5 in the G-MAC.
In 2025-26, Conley led Lake Erie to its first NCAA Division II Tournament after finishing runner-up in the G-MAC Championship game. The Storm's full-court pressure produced the most turnovers forced in G-MAC history, with 582 and attempted 392 more total shots than their opponents this season, including 403 more three-pointers. On average, Lake Erie generated more than 12 additional shot attempts per game than its opponent. Their pace and pressure also separated them from the rest of the conference. Lake Erie finished the season with 221 more field goal attempts than any other team in the G-MAC and 238 more three-point attempts than the next-closest team.
Conley mentored Amari Williams to First-Team All-GMAC honors and Kai Bloom to second-team laurels in 2025-26.
During the 2024-25 season, Conley's team had an impressive 19-10 record. This broke the previous program NCAA DII-era win record of 17 in a season (2018-19). In five separate games, the team scored more than 100 points, including a new school record of 122 points in their win over Bryant and Stratton. The team finished the season by returning to the G-MAC tournament and earning the fifth seed.
In the 2018-2019 season, he guided the Storm to their second consecutive G-MAC Tournament appearance after setting a program record in their Division II era for most wins with 17 and most conference wins with 12. The team finished 17-12 overall and 12-8 in the conference to earn the No. 6 seed. In 2017-18, he led the Storm to a G-MAC Tournament semifinal appearance after a 12-win improvement from the previous year. Lake Erie drew the No. 7 seed and defeated No. 2 Walsh in the quarterfinals and for the third time on the season before bowing out to Hillsdale.
As a result, he was named Lake Erie College's Coach of the Year, and the men's basketball team was named Most Improved Team of the Year in 2018. In 2019, the men's basketball team was named the S.T.O.R.M Blast winner for the highest male team cumulative GPA.
Prior to coming to Lake Erie, Conley spent four seasons as an assistant for his alma mater, the University of Findlay. While there, he helped the Oilers to a four-year mark of 112-16, four NCAA Tournament appearances, three GLIAC South Division championships, and a pair of GLIAC Tournament championships. The 2005 Oilers team reached the Elite Eight and finished the season ranked first in the final NABC Coaches’ Poll. Conley was also on the staff when the Oilers knocked off Ohio State in an exhibition game in Columbus in 2008.
Conley also has three years of coaching at the high school level with Marion Harding and Elgin.
Conley is married to his wife Karina.
