First-year Wisconsin women’s basketball head coach Jonathan Tsipis has completed his coaching staff with the hiring of Craig Carter as an assistant coach. Carter joins Sasha Palmer and Myia McCurdy on the Badger bench.
“We are excited to welcome Craig to the Wisconsin Women’s Basketball family,” Tsipis said. “Craig and I have known each other for a long period and he has a great reputation as being an outstanding coach. He was an accomplished player at Rutgers and has helped recruit and develop high level student-athletes.
“Craig worked with Fran McCaffery on two different occasions and knows the detailed efforts I am looking for in the area of scouting and game planning. He is a great fit with Sasha Palmer, Myia McCurdy and Michelle Nason, serving as great role models and mentors for our student-athletes.”
Carter comes to Wisconsin after serving as a men’s assistant coach at Cornell University. He has also coached at Siena College and his alma mater Rutgers University.
Carter was a four-year letter for the Scarlet Knights from 1987-91, serving as a two-time team captain. Rutgers participated in three post-season tournaments, including the NCAA tournament in 1989 and 1991. He was also selected to the Atlantic-10 Conference All-Tournament team in 1989. Carter graduated from Rutgers in 1992 with a bachelor’s degree in English.
Tsipis and Carter both coached under Fran McCaffery during their careers. Carter replaced Tsipis as the director of operations at UNC Greensboro under McCaffery. Carter followed McCaffery to Siena College, serving as an assistant coach for one season.
“Jonathan and I are from the same coaching family tree,” Carter explained. “We have been mentored and taught by the same coach. When this job came open, Fran recommended me to Jonathan. Tsip is a great guy and Wisconsin is a great school. It’s a great opportunity and something I couldn’t say no to. I had other opportunities that I actually walked away from to give this job a really good look and I’m glad it worked out.
“I bring a high-level of preparation, confidence and belief. I think the main thing you can do with a player that you mentor is let them know how much you care about them – preparing them and believing in their talent, their ability to get better. I think we’re going to be able to do that. It’s a great mix of personalities, enthusiasm and energy that’s going to take the Wisconsin program to new levels.”
Carter has coached three all-rookie honorees and one conference player of the year in Kenny Hasbrouck at Rutgers. He has twice participated in the NCAA Achieving Coaching Excellence program and is a member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches.
Tagged with: Big Ten Craig Carter Jonathan Tsipis Wisconsin
