(Omaha, NE) – A Guthrie Center, Iowa native, Jim Flanery, was honored by the Omaha Press Club on May 13 as the OPC’s 186th Face on the Barroom Floor. Started in 1971, the Face on the Barroom Floor is one of the most prestigious awards given in Nebraska, as it recognizes newsmakers who have made a difference in the state and the nation. The award is given in a roast format. Past recipients over the past 55 years include Warren Buffett, President Gerald Ford, Johnny Carson, Bob Gibson, Gale Sayers and Dick Cavett.
Flanery was honored together with Kirsten Bernthal Booth, as two of the leading ambassadors for women’s athletics in Nebraska. Jim was the son of Judy and James Flanery. James is deceased, but Judy is still alive and lives in Omaha. Jim was a 1983 graduate of Guthrie Center High School, where he played basketball, baseball and golf. (Images below are courtesy of Tim O’Conner as shared by Josh Ramussen)
For more than two decades, Flanery and Booth officed next door to each other in the Creighton University Athletics Department. Flanery has guided the women’s basketball team since 2002, while Booth coached the women’s volleyball squad from 2003-2024. Due to the success of the women’s volleyball and basketball programs, Creighton was able to open the Ryan Athletics Center and D.J. Sokol Arena in 2009. The facility has a seating capacity of 2,500 and provides an energetic atmosphere for sporting events.
Flanery is a 1987 graduate of Creighton. From 1985-1987, he was a walk-on member of the men’s basketball team coached by Tony Barone. He also was a member of the Creighton golf team. “I stumbled into coaching,” said Flanery, who was originally a journalism major before shifting to philosophy. “I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. I didn’t have a coaching agenda.”
After Flanery graduated, he was asked by Bruce Rasmussen, who was then the women’s basketball coach at Creighton, to be a graduate assistant coach. He held this post for three years before moving to Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, in 1990 to become an assistant coach under Connie Yori, a legendary women’s basketball player at Creighton.
In 1992, Rasmussen stepped down as the women’s head coach to become associate athletics director. Yori was brought in as head coach and Flanery returned to Creighton as her top assistant. Over the next 10 years with Yori and Flanery at the helm, the Bluejays notched a 170-115 record and made two appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
