Carlene Mitchell Named Head Coach At UC Santa Barbara
May 19 | Women's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (May 19, 2011) – Rutgers University associate head coach Carlene Mitchell will leave her current position with the Scarlet Knights to become head coach at UC Santa Barbara, the school announced Thursday.
“Carlene is an amazing person and great coach, someone who I consider a true friend,” said Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer. “We’re going to miss having her with us because her abilities as a coach have been instrumental in helping us continue the success we’ve built at Rutgers. The fact that Carlene was my associate head coach speaks volumes. She’s enthusiastic, has a great mind for the game of basketball and has proven to be an amazing recruiter. She has an uncanny ability to really connect with the young women, which is so important to being a great coach.
“I’ve been a head coach for a long time and watched so many of my former assistants move on to become head coaches but it never gets any easier to see them leave. It was only a matter of time that someone of her caliber, who has been as successful as she has, takes that next step in their career and I know without a doubt she will rise to the occasion. Carlene has been waiting for this opportunity and I couldn’t be more proud and happy for her. She truly deserves it and we wish her well.”
Mitchell completed her 10th season as an assistant with the Scarlet Knights and her third as associate head coach in 2010-11.
“I am honored and privileged to have spent the last decade being mentored by one of the legends of women’s basketball,” said Mitchell. “The life lessons I have learned will be passed on to all the young women I encounter in years to come. Rutgers University, and all the players and coaches I have worked with over the years, will always hold a special place in my heart.
“The opportunity to run a program with the tradition that UCSB offers is the perfect place for me to begin a new phase in my basketball career as a head coach. It is a dream come true and although bittersweet I am excited and anxious to continue the legacy of Gaucho basketball.”
During her time ‘On the Banks’, Rutgers earned an NCAA berth in nine-straight seasons and advanced to the NCAA Regional Semifinals five times. The Scarlet Knights played in the 2007 National Championship game in addition to winning the BIG EAST Tournament Championship that same season.
Mitchell, who served as the program's recruiting coordinator since 2004, has helped Rutgers consistently land the nation’s top talent, including the No. 1 rated class in the country in 2006. The 2009 recruiting class was ranked No. 9 by ESPN’s Hoopgurlz, while the 2011 incoming freshmen comprises the fifth-best class in the country. RU has hauled in a recruiting class ranked in the top-five by ESPN Hoopgurlz in three of the past four seasons.
In addition to her recruiting efforts, Mitchell has helped to mentor several former players who have gone on to enjoy success on the profession level, including five currently in the WNBA?- Cappie Pondexter, Matee Ajavon, Essence Carson, Kia Vaughn and Epiphanny Prince.
Prior to Rutgers, the DeWitt, Ark. native spent the 2000-01 season as the top assistant and recruiting coordinator at Oklahoma State. She was responsible for preseason and off-season conditioning, coaching the guards, developing defensive game plans and working with the program’s summer camps.
Before arriving at Stillwater, Mitchell coached for two seasons at Western Illinois. She started her coaching career as a graduate assistant at the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 1997.
Mitchell was the starting point guard as a senior at Kansas State University (95-96) where she received a bachelor’s degree in social science from the school in 1996. Mitchell also attended Allen County (Kan.) and Trinity Valley (Texas) Community Colleges. She helped lead Trinity to the first of their five unprecedented NJCAA National Championships in 1994. Named All-Conference and selected to the NJCAA All-Tournament Team, Mitchell still holds the single season assist record (337) and assists in a game (17) mark in the Lady Cardinals record book.
