Carlos Knox, an 18-year veteran coach in both collegiate and professional basketball, has been hired as an assistant coach with the University of Cincinnati women’s basketball program, Head Coach Michelle Clark-Heard announced today. Knox, a native of Dayton, Ohio, comes to UC after serving as an assistant coach at the University of North Texas the past three seasons and as an assistant coach with the WNBA Indiana Fever the seven years prior, a stint that included the 2012 WNBA title.
“I am excited to welcome Carlos and his family to our Bearcats Family,” Clark-Heard said. “Carlos has played and coached at the highest level. He has extensive player development involvement, working with some of the best players in the WNBA. In addition, Carlos was able to see and be a part of a championship level environment with the Indiana Fever. However, even with all of the basketball knowledge and experience he is bringing to UC, of even more importance is his character. Carlos’s morals and values line up perfectly with what we are building here at the University of Cincinnati. We look forward to Carlos being a major part of our future.”
“I am very excited to join the Bearcat family!” Knox said. “The winning culture of this program is stellar, and I am honored to join such a dedicated team. I can’t wait to get started on helping this program grow!”
COACHING CAREER
Knox has plied his trade as a coach at several levels, serving as both a head and assistant coach. In the collegiate ranks, he served as an assistant coach with the UNT women’s program (2017-20) while also serving as an assistant coach for the men’s teams at IUPUI and San Diego State. At the professional level, Knox coached in several leagues, working as a head coach in the National Basketball League of Canada (NBLC), the International Basketball League (USA), the Continental Basketball Association (USA) and the American Basketball Association (USA). Following those stints, he joined the Indiana Fever in the WNBA and worked with a team that reached the WNBA Finals twice during his tenure as an assistant coach with the Fever winning the crown in 2015 after taking second in 2012.
While with UNT, he worked with a team that achieved many firsts, including scoring a program and Conference USA-record 114 points in a single game (2019-20) while also helping the 2018-19 squad to an opening-round win in the Women’s Basketball Invitational over UTRGV, the team’s first postseason victory ever. Earlier in the same season, the Mean Green posted inaugural wins over Louisiana Tech, Southern Miss and Western Kentucky and secured the program’s first 3-0 start to CUSA play. Additionally, in his first season with the Mean Green, the team featured one of the best defenses in the nation as UNT ranked #3 nationally in scoring defense for much of the year.
Individually, he worked with several talented players at UNT, including Terriell Bradly and Anisha George, both of whom were all-conference players. Bradley, a two-time Conference USA First-Team honoree, averaged 15.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists and capped her career as the fifth-leading scorer in program history with 1,467 points while ranking first in free throws (417) and fifth in made three-pointers (138). George followed in the 2019-20 season as a second-team honoree by averaging team-highs of 14.3 points and 8.9 rebounds to lead C-USA in field goal accuracy and was fifth in the nation at shooting over 64 percent.
Before joining UNT, Knox served as director of training for Jonathan Byrd Fieldhouse, Indiana’s state-of-the-art basketball facility, and worked for seven seasons as an assistant coach with the WNBA’s Indiana Fever. His responsibilities included scouting, player development, post-injury rehabilitation training, video editing, practice planning, and game preparation. As a member of the 2012 Indiana Fever WNBA Championship team coaching staff led by Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame coach Lin Dunn, Knox’s work with four-time Olympic gold medalist and 2020 Naismith Hall of Fame selection Tamika Catchings and five-time WNBA All-Star Katie Douglas played a vital role in the team’s long-term success and second trip to the WNBA Finals in 2015 under head coach Stephanie White.
Knox began his coaching career as an assistant with his alma mater, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis (IUPUI), under head coach Ron Hunter. There, he was instrumental in the recruitment and development of 12-year NBA veteran George Hill. In 2010 Knox joined the coaching staff at San Diego State University where he served as an assistant.
Professionally, Knox played briefly with the Indiana Pacers and spent eight years playing in Croatia, Germany, Venezuela, and Italy. As a head coach in Canada’s NBLC league, he earned honorable mention as Coach of the Month and produced six of the league’s 18 Player of the Week honors. He also served as a head coach in the International Basketball League, Continental Basketball Association, American Basketball Association, and International Basketball League.
PLAYING CAREER
Knox earned his degree in 1998 from IUPUI where he is lauded as the most prolific men’s basketball player in school history. A three-time All-American, two-time NCAA scoring champion, and NCAA Player of the Year, Knox set all of IUPUI’s major scoring records, including career points (2,556), single-season points (927), single-game points (51), single-season scoring average (32.0), and career scoring average (30.1). He remains in the top 10 for career assists (297) and free throw percentage (.833) and is the only player IUPUI history to hit more than 200 free throws in a single season, which he accomplished three times. His No. 34 jersey was retired after his final game, marking the first time in school history an athlete’s jersey had been retired on senior night.
Knox is credited as the impetus behind IUPUI’s reclassification of its men’s basketball program to Division I the year after his graduation. He was inducted into the IUPUI Athletics Hall of Fame in 2004. In 2016, Knox was recognized as IUPUI Men’s Basketball Legend as the first athlete to receive the honor.
Prior to collegiate playing days, Knox was a standout at Meadowdale High School in Dayton. As a three-year varsity starter, he helped his team to three District 15 titles and pair of city championships. The Dayton Daily News Player of the Year, Knox was selected All-Ohio Second Team after averaging 26.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 9.6 assists per game as a senior. The leading scorer in Dayton that year, Knox played in the Ohio All-Star game and connected on eight three-point baskets in the contest.
Carlos resides in Cincinnati with his wife, Michelle.
Photo Courtesy Cincinnati Athletics
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