Coaching Record
Following the 2002 Season:
MSU Billings (8 years): 151-70
Overall (12 years): 232-113
Craig
Carse, whether he be in Appalachia, the Bayou or the Rocky Mountains,
wins basketball games. The 2003-2004 season will mark
his ninth with the Yellowjackets and 12th overall as a head coach. Carse is
one of the NCAA's winningest active coaches.
After guiding the Yellowjackets to the 2002 Pacific West Conference
Championship and a berth into the NCAA Tournament, Carse was named as
the 2002 PacWest Conference Coach of the Year. Despite multiple
injuries, the 2003 squad finished third in the PacWest with a 19-8
overall mark
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, three
pointers and substitutions galore. While his teams
may not look as athletic or opposing, the
"system" has guided them to become the nation's
top offensive program.
In 1995, Carse re-entered the world of
collegiate coaching and took over a 'Jacket 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 have to
accept a rigorous direction and maintain excellence and
high academic standards if they want to play
basketball. Carse's seven MSU Billings seasons have
seen over a 3.30 team grade point average.
This new philosophy changed the 'Jackets
fortunes more than anyone could have ever imagined. MSU-B advanced to the NCAA tournament for the first time
in eight years and won 20 games for only the second time
in the 1990's. Despite a limited roster, that first
team ('96) managed to lead the nation in three pointers
and rank third in scoring. |
