Ohio State women’s basketball head coach Kevin McGuff announced on Tuesday the addition of Carrie Banks to the staff. Banks will serve as an assistant coach after spending the last three seasons as an assistant at Northwestern.
“I am extremely excited to welcome Carrie Banks to the Ohio State women’s basketball family,” McGuff said. “Her work ethic and passion for helping young athletes develop will be a great fit as we continue to move our program forward. She is also known as a great recruiter and will be instrumental in helping us continue to add the right student-athletes to our program.”
During her three seasons with the Wildcats, Banks helped guide a young Northwestern squad to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 18 years as well as a pair of WNIT berths. NU won a total of 58 games in her three seasons, including a 23-win campaign in 2014-15 which was the most wins in a season for the Wildcats in almost 20 years.
Banks worked closely with NU point guard Ashley Deary who, as a freshman, ranked in the top three in the Big Ten in assists, was an All-Big Ten honoree and a finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award. She had another All-Big Ten season as a sophomore and in 2015-16, she led the NCAA with a school-record 141 steals en route to be named the Big Ten’s Defensive Player of the Year. Deary was the only player in 2015-16 to average over four assists and steals per game.
Banks is no stranger to Ohio as she coached girls AAU basketball for four seasons and also was the junior varsity head women’s basketball coach at Dublin Jerome High School from 2004-06. She pursued her master’s degree in journalism at Kent State while working as a freelance reporter for the Big Ten Network and a color analyst for women’s basketball games.
Banks graduated from Detroit Mercy in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in communications and was a four-year letterwinner for the Titans. She continued her playing career after UDM, competing professionally overseas for Grupo Desportivo Bolacesto in V.N. Gaia, Portugal, in 2000 and 2001.
She then returned to her alma mater prior to the 2007-08 season to serve as an assistant coach during the 2007-08 campaign and also added the role of recruiting coordinator in 2008-09. While with the Titans, Banks helped coach a number of All-Horizon League selections, including Brigid Mulroy (first team, 2010), Sandi Brown (second team, 2009) and Yar Shayok (2010 Horizon League Newcomer of the Year and second-team honoree). Banks also helped guide UDM to wins over two top-25 foes.
She then joined Jose Fernandez’s staff at South Florida as an assistant coach for three seasons. Banks helped guide the Bulls to postseason appearances in each of her last two years with the program, including a trip to the second round of the 2013 NCAA Tournament. The Bulls posted a 22-11 record during the 2012-13 season and recorded a 71-70 upset of No. 7 seed Texas Tech on the Red Raiders’ home court during the first round of the NCAA tournament. While at USF, Banks was responsible for recruiting, practice and game preparation.
http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/070516aaa.html
Tagged with: Big Ten Carrie Banks Kevin McGuff Ohio State
