GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Tusculum University head women's basketball coach Devan Carter has been hired as head women's basketball coach at fellow South Atlantic Conference member Lincoln Memorial University.
Carter compiled a 79-59 record in five seasons with the Pioneers, finishing with a winning record in four of his five campaigns including back-to-back 20-win seasons in 2018-19 and 2019-20. He led Tusculum to three straight appearances in the Pilot/Flying J SAC Women's Basketball Championship tournament, culminating with the 2020 title and an NCAA Division II Tournament berth.
Tusculum finished with a 24-7 record in 2019-20, the most victories in a season for a Pioneer squad since winning 26 games in 2008-09. The Pioneers finished third in the SAC standings with a 16-6 record, then defeated Wingate (82-40), Carson-Newman (81-73) and Anderson (61-49) for the program's first SAC Tournament championship since 2011.
As a team, Tusculum led the SAC in steals per game (12.5) and fewest turnovers per game (14.4). The Pioneers ranked eighth in Division II in turnovers forced per game (22.7) and seventh nationally in turnover margin at plus-8.39 per game. The Pioneers allowed just 59.6 points per game during the 2019-20 season, holding the opposition to fewer than 60 points 18 times in 31 games.
"I would like to thank Pioneer Nation for seven phenomenal years. Tusculum gave me an opportunity to not only coach, but more importantly to grow as a coach and a person. For that, I am eternally grateful," Carter said. "This move was not an easy one for me, and it was made with a great deal of thought.
"Devan has done an outstanding job for us the past five years. He took over a program that was struggling and built it into a contender," said Doug Jones, Tusculum vice president of athletics and University initiatives. "Devan has the ability to connect with his players and get the most out of them. In my opinion, he is one of the best coaches in the country and has a very bright future. We obviously hate to see him leave but wish him all the best in the future. He will always be a Pioneer in our minds."
Carter was named permanent head coach of the Pioneer women's basketball program on Feb. 27, 2016 after serving as the interim coach for most of the 2015-16 season. Prior to that, Carter had served three seasons as associate head coach for the Pioneer men's program from 2013-14 through the 2015-16 season.
In his first season, Carter guided the Pioneers to a 13-12 overall record and coached SAC scoring champion Shynese Whitener, who claimed All-SAC and All-Region accolades following the season. After enduring the only non-winning season of his tenure in 2016-17, Carter turned the Pioneers around for good in 2017-18 with a 16-11 overall record and the program's first SAC Championship tournament berth since 2012-13.
The 2018-19 Pioneer squad went 20-9 overall and led the conference in scoring defense, steals per game, turnover margin, turnovers forced per game and three-point percentage defense. Junior guard Mia Long was the NCAA statistical champion in steals per game with 3.96 per contest during the 2018-19 season.
Before coming to Tusculum, Carter was an assistant coach at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Virginia for two seasons, where the Cascade, Virginia native had completed his prep career before heading to Elon University. At Elon, Carter was a four-year letterwinner and three-year starter for the Phoenix before earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 2010.
Carter coached four members of the 1,000-point club at Tusculum: Kasey Johnson (1,267 points), Whitener (1,221 points), Long (1,077 points) and Sydney Wilson (1,057 points). Johnson, Long and Wilson all reached the milestone during the 2019-20 season, marking the first time in program history that three players scored their 1,000th career points in the same season.
"I would like to thank Coach Jones for giving me an opportunity and believing in me as a young coach. His vision and leadership for our athletic department allowed our program to accomplish a lot of firsts for Tusculum women's basketball," added Carter. "I would like to thank all the players, both past and present, for allowing me to be their coach. It was an absolute honor to coach each of them and I will always be one call away."
Carter takes over a Lincoln Memorial squad that finished 10-17 overall and tied for seventh in the conference with a 9-13 record in 2019-20. He went 4-6 against the Railsplitters during his tenure with the Pioneers, with victories in each of the last three meetings that included Tusculum's first sweep of the season series with LMU since 2010-11.
A national search for Carter's successor will begin immediately.
