Women's Basketball

Devan Carter was named permanent head coach of the Tusculum women's basketball program on February 27, 2016 after serving most of the 2015-16 season as the interim coach. 

Tusculum enjoyed its finest season in nearly a decade in 2018-19, finishing the year with a 20-9 overall record and tied for fourth place in the SAC with an 8-8 league mark. THe Pioneers opened the season with four straight wins and added winning streaks of seven and five games during the season, which included a 75-54 win over nationally-ranked Newberry on Jan. 21. The Pioneers' stifling defense led the SAC in scoring defense (55.2 ppg - 12th in NCAA II), steals per game (13.4 - 5th in NCAA II), turnover margin (+8.4 per game - 7th in NCAA II), three-point percentage defense (.260 - 6th in NCAA II) and turnovers forced (23.38 per game - 5th in NCAA II). Junior guard Mia Long was the NCAA Division II stat champion in steals per game with 3.96 per contest.

The 2017-18 season was a breakthrough year for Carter and the Pioneers, as the team improved its record by 9 1/2 games from the previous season. The Pioneers finished with a 16-11 overall record and earned their first trip to the SAC Championship tournament since the 2012-13 season. The Pioneers went 11-9 in the conference and tied for sixth place, with Sydney Wilson and Kasey Johnson earning postseason All-Conference recognition. Tusculum also had a notable exhibition victory, winning at Division I UNC Greensboro by a score of 71-69 on Dec. 19.

In his inaugural campaign, he guided the 2015-16 Pioneers to a seven-win improvment to finish with a 13-12 overall record. During that 2015-16 season, he mentored All-Region and All-South Atlantic Conference standout Shynese Whitener, who finshed the year as the league's scoring champion.

Carter also served as associate head coach of the Tusculum men’s basketball program for three seasons from 2014-2016.  As associate head coach, Carter was TC's recruiting coordinator, director of skill development and coordinated Tusculum’s summer basketball camps.

Prior to his arrival at Tusculum, Carter served two seasons at Hargrave Military Academy as an assistant coach.  While at the Chatham, Virginia prep school, he worked to enhance the individual development of guards and post players.  He served as the program’s operations specialist and handled the recruiting data base, film coordination and maintained the team’s web site.  Carter supervised players’ campus activities and facilitated and organized community service projects.

While on the coaching staff at Hargrave Military Academy, he assisted in the recruitment and coaching of several collegiate players including: Montreazl Harrell (Louisville), Codi Miller-McIntyre (Wake Forest), Corey Heyward (Georgia Tech), Charles Buggs (Minnesota), Terry Rozier (Louisville), Anton Gill (Louisville), Greg McClinton (Wake Forest), Neville Fincher (Kansas State), and Donte Clark (Massachusetts).

Carter, a native of Cascade, Virginia, was a four-year letterman and three-year starter at NCAA Division I Elon University.  He was instrumental to the major turnaround in the Elon basketball program starting in the Southern Conference championship game against nationally ranked Davidson College in Elon's first nationally televised game on ESPN.

He played one season at Hargrave Military Academy prior to Elon during the 2005-06 season.  He was a McDonald’s All-American nominee at Morehead High School in Eden, North Carolina and played in the prestigious North Carolina East-West All-Star Game.  He was named to the Greensboro News and Record All-Area first team and the All-Northwest Region team as a senior.  He also garnered All-Conference accolades three times and was a two-time team MVP, establishing the Morehead High School single-game scoring record with 48 points.

Following Elon, he briefly played professionally in Europe, touring Ireland, Finland and the United Kingdom.

He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Elon in 2010.  He was the 2010 recipient of the Phillips Excellence Award for Academics and the Dewey Andrews Scholarship, both from Elon.  Carter earned his Masters of Arts degree in human resource management from Tusculum in December 2016.

Carter’s Year-by-Year Coaching Record
Year       School         Overall    Pct.   SAC    Pct. SAC Finish
2015-16    Tusculum        13-12    .520   11-11  .500    T8th
2016-17    Tusculum         6-20    .231    5-17  .227    T8th
2017-18    Tusculum        16-11    .593   11-9   .550    T6th
2018-19    Tusculum        20-9     .690    8-8   .500    T5th
Totals                     55-52    .514   35-45  .438