Craig
Carse, whether he is in Appalachia, the Bayou or the Rocky Mountains,
wins basketball games. The 2004-2005 season will mark
his tenth with the Yellowjackets and 14th overall as a head coach. Carse is
one of the NCAA's winningest active coaches.
Carse has guided the Yellowjackets to the Pacific West Conference
Championship and berths into the NCAA Tournament, Carse was named as
the 1996, 1998, and 2002 PacWest Conference Coach of the Year.
After a seven
year run as an assistant at Louisiana State University in
Baton Rouge, in 1994 Carse went to work as Executive
Vice-President of the United States Basketball
Academy. During that year, Carse developed an
innovative style and system of play that features the
strengths of individual players. Incorporated in
this was an up tempo attack, pressure defense, and three
pointers. While his teams
may not look as athletic or opposing, the
"system" has guided them to become one of the nation's
top offensive programs.
In 1995, Carse re-entered the world of
collegiate coaching and took over a Yellowjacket program that
had gone 5-21 the year before and had only one winning
season in the previous four. On the court, he
implemented the "system" that he had worked
feverishly on the year before. Off the court,
discipline was the new rule. His players had to
accept a rigorous direction and maintain excellence and
high academic standards if they wanted to play
basketball. Carse's eight MSU Billings seasons have
seen over a 3.30 team grade point average.
This new philosophy changed the Yellowjackets' fortunes drastically. MSUB advanced to the NCAA tournament for the first time
in eight years and won 20 games for only the second time
in the 1990s. Despite a limited roster, that first
team ('96) managed to lead the nation in three pointers
and rank third in scoring.
The next six years produced more of the
same. Three more NCAA berths, three Pac West Conference Championships, a
slew of national, conference, and school records and Coach of the Year
awards. In addition, the Yellowjackets have led the nation in three pointers made
per game in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2004
finishing second in 2002 and 2003.
They were also the nation's leading scoring team in '97, '98,
2000, 2001, and 2002 with a second place ranking in 1999. The
Jackets under Carse have averaged 104 PPG and yielded
only 82 on the campus of MSU Billings.
And while Carse
is definitely proud of what his players and teams have
accomplished over the years, he isn't in coaching for
only wins and championships. His peace of mind
comes from his philosophy of an honest direction with a
focused purpose towards consistent repetition that
develops values that people can grow with for life. Carse would rather talk of the off court success of
his teams than the many basketball achievements they once
accomplished. The kind of person a
student-athlete becomes, whether it's a dedicated husband, father,
or citizen is Carse's main concern.
One area many of his former players have grown into is
a professional basketball career. While at LSU,
Carse was the primary recruiter of Chris Jackson, Stanley
Roberts, Shaquille O'Neal, Geert Hammink and Ronnie
Henderson. All were NBA draft picks with O'Neal
being the #1 and Jackson a #3 selection. At small
West Virginia State, Carse managed to produce NBA
selections. Both Ron Moore and Ronnie Legette were
drafted a few months after playing in the NAIA National
Championship game under Carse. At MSUB, Carse has had
All-American Titus Warmsley in the camp of the Boston
Celtics.
When Carse took the West Virginia State job in 1983-84, the Yellowjackets had not been a successful program. After a tough first year, Carse's team went 18-11 in
84-85, a definite sign of things
to come. In going 57-8 in his final two seasons,
Carse led the Yellowjackets to conference, tournament,
and district championships and the aforementioned spot in
the NAIA title game, broadcast nationally on ESPN in
1987.
After playing LSU in a
Hawaii tournament, long time mentor Dale Brown offered Carse a spot on
his staff. Carse became LSU's primary recruiter
and Brown's top aide. During Carse's time as
assistant coach, the Tigers were one of the most
successful teams in the Southeastern Conference and NCAA. The "Bayou Bengals" advanced to six straight
NCAA Tournaments and were ranked as high as #1
nationally.
Carse has coached and participated in National
Championship Tournaments at every level. His first
position as an assistant at Bethany College, West
Virginia in 1977 saw a 3-18 team the year before, win the
Presidents Conference Championship and advance to the
NCAA Division III Tournament in 1978. At Salem in
West Virginia, from 1978 through 1983, he helped turn a
losing program into a West Virginia Conference power with
conference championships and an NAIA tournament
berth. His West Virginia State, Louisiana State and
Montana State-Billings teams all participated in
national tournaments. Before Carse's arrival at
West Virginia State and Montana State-Billings, both programs had
suffered losing campaigns.
Carse is also a noted speaker and clinician. He has
lectured and taught the game of basketball nationally and
internationally. He represented the United States
in Europe and Austraila at the Super Cup as well with Asian Basketball
and Chinese National teams.
A native of Sistersville, West Virginia, Carse
is working on his 30th year in college basketball and 14th as a head coach. He and his
wife of 27 years have two children, David (23) and
Lindsey (20). Carse and
his wife, Leslie, both hold degrees from the West
Virginia University in Morgantown, WV, and
currently live outside Billings, Montana. |
