RENO, Nev. " The University of Nevada introduced David Carter as its new men's basketball head coach at a press conference held Friday afternoon in the Hall of Fame room at Legacy Hall. Carter, 42, has spent the last 10 years as an assistant coach for the Wolf Pack, including the last four as Nevada's associate head coach.
Carter becomes the 17th head coach in the history of Nevada's men's basketball program and replaces Mark Fox, who left Nevada on April 2 after five seasons to become the new head coach at the University of Georgia.
"David Carter is an excellent choice to be the next head coach at the University of Nevada. He understands all of the priorities and responsibilities of being a student-athlete and has been an integral part of the success of our program," University of Nevada President Milt Glick said.
"David brings great integrity and competitiveness to this position and he is the right person to continue to lead the Wolf Pack basketball program forward," Director of Athletics Cary Groth said. "He provides continuity and has played a significant role in building the foundation that has made our program so successful."
Carter takes the reins of a Wolf Pack program that has posted six consecutive 20-win seasons and seven straight postseason appearances. He has played an integral role in Nevada's five Western Athletic Conference titles and four NCAA Tournament invitations. He has also been recognized as one of the top assistant coaches in the nation, making FOXSports.com's list of the top 10 Mid-Major Assistant Coaches in 2007-08 and being named the best assistant coach in the Western Athletic Conference in Street's & Smith's 2004-05 College Basketball National Preview.
"It is truly an honor and a privilege to have the opportunity to lead this program," Carter said. "I am thankful to everyone at the University of Nevada and in this community for supporting me, and I look forward to sustaining the success and values that we have worked hard to achieve here at Nevada."
An accomplished basketball player himself, Carter has been able to successfully relate his experiences as a guard to the perimeter players on the Wolf Pack roster.
His extensive knowledge of the Nevada offense has helped the program grow from year-to-year, breaking the single-season record for scoring in 2004-05 and again in 2006-07 with 2,632 points as well as the single-season mark for assists with 571 in 2006-07. Two of his guards - Ramon Sessions (2005) and Armon Johnson (2008) - have been named the WAC Freshman of the Year, while Johnson was a first-team All-WAC selection as a sophomore in 2009. Sessions, a 2007 NBA Draft pick by the Milwaukee Bucks, ended his career at Nevada ranked second in all-time assists after only three seasons.
Guard Marcelus Kemp earned first-team All-WAC honors in each of his last two seasons at Nevada. After ranking second on the team in scoring in each of the previous two years, Kemp led the team and ranked second in the WAC with 20.0 points per game in 2007-08.
Carter came to the Wolf Pack in 1999 after spending two seasons as an assistant at his alma mater, Saint Mary's College, in Moraga, Calif. He also had coaching stints at Eastern Washington University and Diablo Valley Community College. In three years at Diablo Valley, Carter helped the team to its first Final Eight appearance.
Prior to his coaching days, Carter played four years (1985-89) at Saint Mary's College. He helped lead the Gaels to an NCAA Tournament berth in 1989, and the team finished the season ranked 17th in the nation with a 25-5 record. He was a four-year starter and team captain. Carter also set the school record for career assists at Saint Mary's, a record that stood from 1989-97, and currently ranks second all time for the Gaels. Carter was inducted into the Saint Mary's Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006.
Carter played high school basketball at Crenshaw High School in Los Angeles, one of the most prominent programs in the country. In three years at Crenshaw, his teams lost only five games and won state championships in 1983 and 1985.
He received his bachelor of arts in liberal studies from Saint Mary's in 1989.
Carter and his wife, Kimberly, have a daughter, Alexis (10) and a son, Cameron (8).
The David Carter File
Birthdate: March 12, 1967
Hometown: Los Angeles, Calif.
High School: Crenshaw HS
College Education:
Saint Mary's, B.A., Liberal Studies, 1989
Wife: Kimberly
Children: Alexis (10) & Cameron (8)
Playing Experience
1985-89
Saint Mary's (Inducted into the Saint Mary's Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006)
Coaching Career
1989-90
Washington, Graduate Assistant
1992-95
Diablo Valley College, Assistant Coach
1995-97
Eastern Washington, Assistant Coach
1997-99
Saint Mary's, Assistant Coach
1999-2005
Nevada, Assistant Coach
2005-09
Nevada, Associate Head Coach
2009-present
Nevada, Head Coach
What They Are Saying About David Carter:
"There is no one more prepared or more deserving of this opportunity than David Carter. No one understands better than David how this program was built and our success was sustained. He was a big part of all of the success that Trent and I had. I am so excited for David Carter and the Nevada basketball program."
- Mark Fox, former Nevada head coach and the new head coach at the University of Georgia
"David Carter has been coaching for a long time. I remember when he was our point guard (at Saint Mary's) and led us to an NCAA Tournament berth. I would call a timeout, and before I could say anything in the huddle, David would be saying that we need to do this or that, and it would be exactly what I was going to tell our team. He was already thinking like a coach very early on. I think Trent Johnson and Mark Fox would agree with me that everything at Nevada is certainly due in no small part to David. It is very exciting for me to see him get this opportunity. David is such a great choice for this type of job and is special to us as are Mark and Trent."
- Lynn Nance, former head coach at Saint Mary's and the University of Washington
"Years ago when Mark (Fox), David (Carter) and I got together, I was sure then and it's pretty obvious now that Mark would take the Nevada program to a different level and David is going to do the same thing. It's confirmation that when you do things the right way like Mark did and David will do, it's so special. Carter is great. He has been more than ready to be a head coach for a long time and will continue to move the program forward. Carter's going to do a great job."
- Trent Johnson, former Nevada head coach and current head coach at Louisiana State University
