Tom Shirley heads into his 23rd season at the helm of the Philadelphia University women’s basketball team and 31st overall. 

In his career Shirley, who has been the University’s director of athletics since 1992, has won 607 games, which places him sixth on the NCAA D-II career wins list and 30th on the NCAA all-divisions career coaching wins list. On Jan. 19, 2011, Shirley eclipsed the 600-win plateau as his Lady Rams defeated Chestnut Hill College 76-60. 

The Lady Rams posted an overall record of 15-12 during the 2010-11 season and qualified for the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) championship tournament for the fifth straight time.

Shirley led the Lady Rams to a 21-10 season, his 21st year with at least 20 wins, and the team’s first CACC title in 2008-09. The Lady Rams went to the NCAA tournament for the sixth time in Shirley’s tenure.

One of the most successful women’s basketball head coaches in NCAA history, Shirley has racked up numerous awards throughout his career. He has been inducted into the DeSales University, Philadelphia University and Montgomery County Coaches Halls of Fame. In 2007 Shirley was named the AstroTurf NCAA Division II Athletic Director of the Year. After posting a 27-2 record and taking the Lady Rams to the NCAA tournament for the first time during the 1992-93 season, Shirley earned the Converse District Coach of the Year and American Women’s Sports Federation Division II Coach of the Year awards.

Shirley came to then-Philadelphia Textile in 1989 as both the head women's basketball coach and Associate Director of Athletics. In January of 1992, he succeeded H.R. Ted Taylor as the University's Director of Athletics, a position he still holds today.

In his first season with Textile, Shirley, who has an undergraduate degree in economics and a master's degree in sports administration, led the Lady Rams to the ECAC Tournament after posting a 17-11 record. In the 18 seasons since, Shirley has built one of the nation's premier NCAA Division II women's programs as evidenced by its current streak of 19 straight postseason appearances.

Shirley's postseason appearance streak began in the 1991-92 season when the Lady Rams, coupled with a 26-6 record, received their second ECAC Tournament bid in three years. However, it was the 1992-93 season that put the program on the map when Shirley guided the team to a school-record 27-2 mark. After beginning the season with 22 straight victories, the team received its first-ever NCAA Tournament bid under Shirley. 

Coming off an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2000-01 season, Shirley guided the Lady Rams to a 19-11 mark overall in 2001-02, capping the year with the team's first-ever ECAC title. The following season, Shirley led his team to a second consecutive title, posting an 80-76 win over Bryant (R.I.) College and this past year, the Lady Rams advanced to the 2007 ECAC title game before falling to Dominican College in the championship.

A 1976 graduate of Allentown College (now known as DeSales University) where he was a member of the men's basketball team, Shirley's coaching career began in 1981 at his college alma mater. During his highly successful eight-year tenure with the Centaurs, Shirley guided the program to an overall mark of 149-73 while also serving as the school's Director of Athletics. In his final season at Allentown, Shirley led the team to a school-record 24-6 mark and an eventual berth in the NCAA Division III Sweet 16.

In addition to his duties as coach and administrator at the University, Shirley also serves as a member of the NCAA Women's Basketball Rules Committee, serving a term that begins in September 2010 and goes until 2014. In November, 2011 Shirley will be inducted into the Montgomery County Coaches Hall of Fame.  He has also served as the president of the CACC Athletic Directors Council and was a member of the NCAA DII Championships Committee.  In 2007, Shirley was  recognized for his administrative efforts at the University as he was named the AstroTurf NCAA Division II Athletic Director of the Year, receiving the award at the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) annual convention in Orlando, Fla.

Shirley lives in Harleysville, Pa., with his wife, Monica, and has two daughters- Kristen, a Philadelphia University graduate, and Caitlin, a graduate of St. Joseph's University.