Defending NCAA champion GVSU women’s basketball hires new assistant

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Grand Valley State head women’s basketball coach Mike Williams announced the hiring of new assistant coach, Scott Carlson.

Carlson comes to the defending NCAA Division II champions with more than 15 years of coaching experience at the high school and collegiate levels. He takes over for Phil Sayers, who took the head coaching position at Lindenwood.

“I want to thank coach Williams and Keri Becker for giving me the opportunity to work at Grand Valley State,” Carlson said. “I’m looking forward to getting to work and continuing the success of the program.”

Prior to arriving at Grand Valley State, Carlson was most recently an assistant coach at Ferris State. Since joining the Bulldogs in 2022, Carlson helped lead them to three 20-plus win seasons and three trips to the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs routinely were among the best shooting teams in the country under Carlson’s watch, including this year where they ranked in the top three in the GLIAC in scoring offense, field goal percentage, 3-point percentage, and free-throw percentage. He coached 17 All-GLIAC performers, with eight being named to the first team.

“We are excited to add coach Carlson to our staff. When we were looking at candidates, his skill set and passion immediately stood out. He will be a great fit to our staff and will help us continue to build upon the standard we have here at Grand Valley,” William said

Western Michigan gave Carlson his first job on a college staff. The Broncos’ director of scouting and Player Development, Carlson was in Kalamazoo for the 2021-22 season, where he helped them to a 10-win improvement and a spot in the MAC Tournament. With him in charge of developing scouting reports for the opposing teams, Western saw their defense allow seven fewer points per game. He coached Lauren Ross to the MAC All-Freshman team and third-team all-conference.

Before joining the collegiate ranks, Carlson enjoyed a successful run as the head girls basketball coaching at Kent City. From 2009-2021, he compiled a 229-49 record, winning 10 conference titles, 10 district titles, two regionals, and earned a state runner-up finish. Under his tutelage, 14 players went on to play collegiately after their high school careers finished. His teams set Michigan girls’ basketball single-game (25) and single-season three-point records (263), and the Eagles were consistently one of the best shooting teams in the state.

His first coaching job was coaching an AAU team for six seasons. In that timeframe, he won three state championships and earned a runner-up finish.

Carlson graduated from Calvin College with a bachelor’s degree in political science.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: GVSU women’s basketball hires assistant coach Scott Carlson