Cal Poly head women’s basketball coach Shanele Stires is bringing in some familiarity with her newest assistant coach hire as her former teammate and point guard at Kansas State, Carlene Mitchell, will be joining the Mustangs coaching staff as an assistant coach.
Mitchell brings to San Luis Obispo a wealth of coaching and playing experience at all levels. She has been in the coaching ranks for the last 20-plus years following her playing career.
Carlene has done it all in college basketball and even at the pro level,” said Stires. “We couldn’t be more excited about adding Coach Mitchell to our staff. She will be a steady hand to support and assist our student-athletes and a respected peer who will be a sounding board for our coaches and administrators with her knowledge in recruiting, teaching the game, and NCAA tournament experience. She understands people, teamwork, and is an excellent collaborator, which will give our staff the knowledge and wisdom it needs to compete in the Big West. Cal Poly and our program hit the coaching lottery with Coach Mitchell.
Shanele Stires, Cal Poly Head Coach
Most recently, Mitchell served as a head coach in the Big West down at CSUN for three seasons. During her time with the Matadors, she recruited and coached four players who earned All-Big West accolades.
Prior to arriving at CSUN, she spent time coaching in South Korea in the highly respected WKBL (Women’s Korean Basketball League), serving as a Technical Advisor for KEB Hana Bank. She also spent the 2017-18 season as an assistant coach for the WNBA’s Chicago Sky
Before that, Mitchell spent time in the Big West at UC Santa Barbara as their head coach from 2011-2015. Before UCSB, she spent 10 seasons as an assistant coach at Rutgers University. Under the tutelage of Naismith Hall of Famer C. Vivian Stringer, Mitchell helped direct the Scarlet Knights to NCAA berths in nine straight seasons and served as associate head coach for three seasons.
Rutgers enjoyed unparalleled success during her stay, reaching the Sweet 16 five times, the Elite Eight on three occasions, and the Final Four and national title game in 2007. In addition, Mitchell consistently landed some of the nation’s top recruiting classes for the Scarlet Knights, including four top-15 and the country’s No. 1 recruiting class in 2007.
Coach Mitchell was a great teammate of mine at K-State back in our day, and to have her with me at Cal Poly is a dream come true. We are really blessed to have her. The same way she set us up at K-State with timely assists, we will count on her to do the same with our coaches and players. Our Mustang family got a whole lot better with the addition of Coach Mitchell.
Shanele Stires, Cal Poly Head Coach
Before Rutgers, Mitchell spent the 2000-01 season as the top assistant and recruiting coordinator at Oklahoma State University. She also served similar roles at Western Illinois and UMKC.
As a player, Mitchell started her collegiate career at Trinity Valley Community College where she helped lead them to the first of its slew of unprecedented NJCAA National championships (1994, 35-1 record). She was named All-Conference and selected to the NJCAA All-Tournament Team. She played at TVCC for Women’s Basketball Hall of Famer Kurt Budke.
Mitchell still holds the single season assists record (337) in the Trinity record book. She was inducted into the Cardinal Hall of Fame in October 2010.
Shen then transferred to Kansas State where she played alongside Stires and was the starting point guard her senior year, graduating in 1996.
Tagged with: Big West
