Story Courtesy: Stephen Stone (Seminoles.com)
Florida State Women’s Basketball Head Coach Sue Semrau has announced the addition of assistant coach Craig Carter to the Seminole coaching staff.
“It’s a privilege to be able to work with Coach Carter,” Semrau said. “He is a coach with integrity and extensive experience. He is “fluent” in the game of basketball having hands-on experience in every area. He is also versatile, having served in corporate America and as a teacher. As a former player at Rutgers, he understands the needs and the challenges of the athletes we coach.”
Carter brings a strong background to the Florida State coaching staff, spending the previous five seasons with Wisconsin women’s basketball, including the 2020-21 year as the team’s associate head coach.
The majority of his work was spent developing the Badger guards, helping sophomore Sydney Hilliard enjoy a strong season with 15.5 points and shooting 47.9 percent from the floor in 2020-21.
A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Carter made a name for himself in the men’s game both as a student-athlete and a coach. He served under some of the coaching staffs of current Iowa men’s basketball head coach Fran McCaffrey while he was a Director of Basketball Operations at UNC Greensboro in 2003 and as an assistant coach at Siena in the 2005-06 season.
Known as a top-notch recruiter who can also develop talent very well, Carter spent four seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater in Rutgers on the men’s side before returning to Siena for three more years. He also spent time coaching men’s basketball at Skidmore (N.Y.), Longwood and Cornell.
“I am thrilled and honored to be joining Coach Sue and her staff here at Florida State University,” Carter added. “When going through the interview process, people kept using the word “Superstar” to describe Coach Sue. Add that with Associate Head Coach Brooke Wyckoff, and the amazing job she did last season, and a star in the making in Assistant Coach Morgan Toles, I couldn’t have asked for a better situation than Florida State. I have learned in my 20 years of college coaching that working alongside quality people is as important as anything in this business. With the high level of success the program has achieved under Coach Sue, this opportunity is truly a blessing.”
While he was with Longwood in the 2014-15 season, he helped the Lancers reach the Big South Tournament semifinals after taking down the conference’s top seed Charleston Southern.
Carter joins an FSU program that is among only three percent of schools whom have made each of the last eight NCAA Tournaments, joining just nine other programs who share the streak.
The experienced coach knows the feeling of playing in the NCAA Tournament as he participated in the Big Dance with Rutgers in 1989 and 1991. He was a four-year letterwinner for the Scarlet Knights from 1987-91 and was a two-time team captain, earning an Atlantic-10 All-Tournament Team selection in 1989.
Carter will work with some of the FSU position groups while also handling a sizeable role in recruiting for the Seminoles.
His player development abilities have been evident over the years in both men’s and women’s sides. In the 2018-19 year, Wisconsin’s Marsha Howard earned second team All-Big Ten honors under his guidance, averaging 14.7 points. Fellow Badger teammate Cayla McMorris became a two-time Honorable Mention Big Ten performer under his watch as well in 2017 and 2018.
Carter also assisted with the development of notable Siena Alum Kenny Hasbrouck, who became one of the best players in program history with 1,917 career points and 248 steals.
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