Hanging with Coach Carrick

Georgia College & State University’s John Carrick doesn’t just coach women’s basketball. He lives for it.

Carrick boasts a 22-year career as the head coach of the Lady Bobcats, and before the start of the 2005 season, he had amassed a .609 winning percentage.

Sixteen winning seasons, four NCAA Tournament appearances, two regular season Peach Belt Conference titles, and three PBC tournament championships later, Carrick hopes that his colleagues and players would describe him as hard-working and dedicated to the winning traditions of GC&SU women’s basketball.

With over 350 career victories, it’s hard to imagine that one would not.

However, winning percentages and total victories aren’t the only aspects of the game that are important to Carrick. He also stresses the value of education to his players. Ninety-two percent of his seniors have graduated, and that is the statistic that his father, who passed away in December, would have been most proud of.

Carrick’s duties as head coach extend beyond the duties fans most often see from the sidelines. Carrick organizes daily practices, but only after he spends extensive amounts of time breaking down films of upcoming opponents.

“I never want to leave any stone unturned when it comes to finding a possible advantage [we] could use to win,” said Carrick. “I never want the team to lose a game because I missed something.”

Even after a long day at the office and on the courts, Carrick incorporates basketball into his nightly “unwinding” routine by catching a game on television while relaxing in his hot tub.

He and his players also take time out of their schedules to watch some special friends play in the local recreational league.

For some it may be hard to imagine Carrick away from the sport that seems to be his passion. However, in college and in the early part of his coaching career, Carrick was more accustomed to using tennis racquets, wearing soccer spikes and coaching high school boys baseball.

Described by Brad Muller, assistant director of athletics for public relations, as a “lifer,” Carrick’s history at GC&SU precedes the day he was hired to coach women’s basketball.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from GC&SU in physical education in 1974, and in 1976 he completed his master’s degree in health, physical education, and recreation.

As a college student, Carrick stayed actively involved in sports after his roommate convinced him to try out for the tennis team. Although he had never played tennis before, Carrick quickly learned the game, and admits that he also learned that the tennis court was a great place to “pick up girls.”

While playing tennis, Carrick was recruited to play soccer, and in 1974 he was rewarded for his athletic accomplishments and competitive nature with a plaque stating his induction into the Georgia College Colonial Hall of Fame.

After graduation, Carrick coached baseball and assisted with football and boy’s basketball at Putnam County High School. He was approached about becoming the head coach of girl’s basketball eight years later when teams still played six-on-six.

Carrick had never seen girls play basketball much less coached a girls’ team, but he agreed to the job and an $800 salary increase.

The team won only three games in Carrick’s first season, but in 1982 he led the team to a perfect 29-0 record complete with a Class AA State title. In 1983, Carrick returned to his alma mater to begin what continues to be a remarkable coaching campaign.

Carrick’s teams have come a long way since his arrival at GC&SU. Armed with a sign that read “Women’s Basketball Players Needed,” he recruited his first team from the front of the cafeteria. Twenty-two year later, Carrick’s team is one of the most feared in the conference.

He has traded in his soccer spikes for court shoes, and his tennis game has evolved to racquetball, but Carrick still reminisces about days from long ago.

His office is decorated with dozens of team photos. His closets are full of boxes of memorabilia from his days as an athlete and coaching his son Josh.

Carrick insists that he “never worked harder” than he did to acquire his only three wins during his first year coaching girls’ basketball at Putnam County, but all of his hard work is paying off.

The Lady Bobcats are sitting on a 15-8 season record after coming off last year’s incredible campaign in which the team advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament “Sweet Sixteen.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Feb 18 2005. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry