Former WNBA point guard and USA Basketball administrator Jamie Carey has been named an assistant women’s basketball coach at the University of Colorado, head coach Linda Lappe announced on Monday.

Carey joins Colorado after four years with USA Basketball as the assistant women’s national team director. She worked with all levels of the national team program, helping the organization identify coaches and athletes for participation. Carey assisted with organizing logistics for trials, training camps and international competitions, supported the athletes and staff on site internationally and assisted with practice for all national teams.

“I’m extremely excited to be joining coach Lappe’s staff,” Carey said. “I like the vision Linda has as well as the vision (athletic director) Rick George has for the department; for continued growth of the program, particularly in returning to the national stage.”

While working with USA Basketball, Carey was a three-year head girls basketball coach at Sand Creek High School in Colorado Springs (2011-14), guiding the program to a 62-16 record, three Colorado Class 4A Great 8 State appearances and a pair of Pikes Peak Athletic Conference titles. She was the Pikes Peak Athletic Conference Coach of the Year this past season and the Colorado Springs Area Coach of the Year in 2012.

Carey’s high school coaching career included two seasons at Legacy High School in Broomfield (2008-10), helping the team to a Colorado Class 5A runner up finish in 2010. Her five year high school coaching record is an impressive 106-25 (.809).

“I’ve been very fortunate with this game, from a player standpoint being involved in every level possible, from high school to international to professional,” Carey said. “I can hopefully relate to what the players are going through. And working and playing with USA Basketball, I’ve experienced basketball at its highest level and working with some of the world’s greatest coaches.”

One of the top point guards in the nation, Carey was drafted by the Phoenix Mercury with the 31st overall pick in the 2005 WNBA Draft. She would later sign as a free agent with the Connecticut Sun, where she enjoyed a four-year career on some very successful teams. Connecticut played in the postseason all four years during Carey’s time there, including the 2005 WNBA Finals.

Her collegiate career was a well-documented achievement over adversity. The 1999 Ms. Colorado Basketball out of Horizon High School, Carey signed to play at Stanford where she was the 2000 Pac-10 Conference Freshman of the year, a member of the Pac-12 All-Freshman team and named to several Freshman All-America squads.

However concussions sidelined her career at Stanford for the next two seasons. Carey resumed her career at the University of Texas in 2002 where she was a two-time All-Big 12 Conference selection and helped the Longhorns to the 2003 Women’s Final Four. She was a finalist for several national awards over her final two seasons including the Wade Trophy, Naismith Award and Nancy Lieberman National Point Guard of the Year in 2004 and 2005.

Carey won the Jim Valvano Comeback Player of the Year Award in 2004 and received numerous off the court accolades. As a senior in 2005 she was named the NCAA Woman of the Year and earned the Big 12’s Dr. Prentice Gautt Postgraduate Scholarship. Carey was a two-time Academic All-Big 12 pick and named to the 2005 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America team.

“We are so thrilled to have Jamie on board,” Lappe said. “She has proven to be a winner at every level and we know she will bring a great deal of energy and expertise to Colorado basketball. Jamie has a great deal of experience and we love the fact she was successful in her role with USA Basketball. Her knowledge of the game and her ability to make those around her better are what made her a great player and are also what make her a great coach and mentor.”

Carey helped the 1998 USA World Youth Games Team to a bronze medal and the 2003 USA Pan American Games Team to a silver medal. She also played for the USA in the 2007 Women’s National Team College Tour, and she served on the USA Basketball Developmental National Team Committee.

Carey earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Texas in 2004 and completed her Masters of Education in Sport Management in 2006. She was Valedictorian of her graduating class at Horizon in 1999 where she was also a WBCA High School All-American and Colorado’s Gatorade Player of the Year. �

“It means a lot (to get the chance to coach at Colorado),” Carey said. “I grew up as a Buffs fan; we had season tickets. I remember Coors being packed and now to be home, 20 minutes from family, it’s exciting to come to a program and a community I grew up in and which gave me so much.”

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