Ciara Carl

Entering 2020-21 Season

Ciara Carl will be entering her eighth season as an assistant coach for the Aztec women’s basketball team. Carl directs the Aztecs’ scouting efforts, works with the team’s guards and recruits. Since Carl began serving on SDSU’s coaching staff, the Aztecs have had at least one all-Mountain West honoree each season, most recently with Sophia Ramos and Taylor Kalmer.

This past season, the Aztecs tied for fifth in the Mountain West while holding opponents to 38.6 percent shooting from the field, both were team-bests since the 2013 season. SDSU also shot 35.8 percent from three, the second-best percentage in school history.

The 2018-19 the Aztecs won 14 games and advanced to the semifinals of the Mountain West Tournament. Both were season-bests for SDSU under head coach Stacie Terry-Hutson. They knocked off the No. 2 seed New Mexico in the quarterfinals and pushed the No. 3 seed, Wyoming to overtime in the semifinals.

Carl assisted in the signing of back-to-back top-75 recruiting classes in 2017 and 2018. Prior to that, SDSU did not have a nationally ranked recruiting class since 2010-11.
 
The 2018 class was led by a pair of freshmen from Texas, who made huge contributions in their debut season. Point guard Sophia Ramos became the first Aztec to lead the team in scoring and assists since 2007 and her totals for points and assists were the most by a SDSU freshman since 1992. Her sidekick, Mallory Adams was an honorable mention selection to the all-Mountain West team and had the most rebounds by an Aztec since 2000 and the most for a freshman since 1984.

Carl helped McKynzie Fort (2014-18) climb the scoring charts to become the Aztecs’ third-leading scorer (1,708 points) in program history. Fort was a four-time all-Mountain West honoree and was named to the conference’s all-defensive team twice.

Carl was also instrumental in the development of Geena Gomez, who finished her career with a three-point field-goal percentage of .361 (115-319), the third best in school history.

During her one season at Metro State, Carl helped coach the Roadrunners to 21 victories and a spot in the NCAA Division II tournament, where they advanced to the second round. Under her tutelage, five Metro State players garnered all-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference accolades, including Kristin Valencia, who was named the league’s defensive player of the year. As a team, the Roadrunners led the RMAC in scoring defense (51.2 ppg) and limited opponents to a league-worst .350 field-goal percentage.

Carl also witnessed success during her tenure at Cal Poly Pomona from 2010-12, as the Broncos compiled a two-year mark of 47-14 (.770) and made a pair of NCAA DII tournament appearances, including a berth in the Elite Eight in 2011. During that season, Carl assisted in the development of senior guard Reyana Colson, who earned All-America honors after capturing the California Collegiate Athletic Association’s Most Valuable Player award.

In 2019 Carl launched Unchained, a non-profit aimed to serve and inspire young people through love and passion while helping them visualize and realize the futures they desire. The organization uses basketball as a tool to teach leadership and character lessons while providing real life examples of people who have triumphed over challenging circumstances they faced as a young person.

As a collegian, Carl starred at point guard for PLNU, helping the Sea Lions compile an 83-27 overall record in her final three seasons. During that stretch, PLNU made three consecutive trips to the NAIA tournament, capped by a Final Four appearance in 2005. She still holds the school’s career record with 647 assists and ranks second with 277 steals.

Carl received her undergraduate degree in exercise science from PLNU in 2005 and earned her Master of Science degree from California University (Pa.) in 2006 with an emphasis in performance enhancement and injury prevention. She later completed an internship at North Carolina State, working with the Wolfpack’s strength and conditioning program.

A native of Los Angeles, Carl was raised in Cary, N.C., before graduating from Saint Mary’s School in 2000. In addition to earning all-state honors in basketball as a senior, Carl also lettered in volleyball and golf during her prep career.