ROLLA, Mo. – A familiar face is returning to the women's basketball scene at Missouri S&T as Kira Carter – a former assistant coach for the Miners – has been named as the new head coach for the program.

Carter served as the assistant coach for the Miners during the 2016-17 season before spending the next three years as an assistant at the NCAA Division I level, first at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and then at Sam Houston State University where she has spent the last two seasons.  She will be taking over for Alan Eads, who recently retired after 19 seasons in the position and will become the sixth head coach in program history.

"I am extremely excited to return back to Rolla and to Missouri S&T. This is a really special university with phenomenal opportunities for students to excel," Carter said.  "We have the resources to be successful and I look forward to sharing my passion and energy with our basketball program and university. 

"I would like to thank Mark Mullin, Melissa Ringhausen and the rest of the hiring committee for giving me the opportunity to lead the women's basketball program," Carter added.  "I would also like to thank my previous head coach, Ravon Justice, staff and team at Sam Houston State for their support and preparing me for this position."

"We are excited to have Kira back at Missouri S&T leading our women's basketball program," Ringhausen, the university's incoming director of athletics this month, said.  "She is familiar with the Great Lakes Valley Conference and has proven success both as a student-athlete and as a coach.  Kira is a dynamic individual with high energy and a tireless work ethic.  We are confident she is the right choice and will uphold S&T's tradition of recruiting high-achieving student-athletes that are successful on the court and in the classroom."

"We are extremely happy that Kira will be coming home to help build our program.  Her passion and energy will serve the program and the department well," Mullin, who is retiring as director of athletics, said.  "She will provide outstanding leadership for the program and I will be cheering her and the team on from the sidelines."

During the past two seasons at Sam Houston State, Carter helped lead that program to a 35-23 overall record and 25-13 mark in the Southland Conference, with last year's records of 19-10 and 14-6 in the Southland marking the most single-season and conference wins for the program as a member of NCAA Division I.  Two members of that team earned all-conference honors and a third player was named as the Southland's Newcomer of the Year.

In the 2018-19 season, Carter's first on the SHSU staff, the Bearkats improved from a four-win team to one that captured 16 victories; the 12-win improvement was the third-best in the nation during that season and best nationally by a first-year coaching staff.  The Bearkats had three all-conference performers and also had the Southland's Newcomer of the Year in that season as well, while the team's head coach, Ravon Justice, was the Southland's Coach of the Year.

Carter's work on the sidelines has also earned her some national recognition, as in the spring of 2020 she was named to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's 30 Under 30 list.

During the 2017-18 season at Milwaukee, Carter was part of a coaching staff that led the team to a 21-12 record and a berth in the National Invitation Tournament.  The Panthers' 21^st victory that season, over Northern Iowa, was its first win ever in a WNIT contest.  Two members of that Panther squad were selected to the Horizon League's all-conference team at the end of the season.

In her two stops at the Division I level, Carter has held numerous responsibilities within those programs, including player development, scouting, recruiting, social media work within the program and handling the team's community service projects.  While at Milwaukee, she also served as the strength and conditioning liaison.

When Carter was at Missouri S&T during the 2016-17 season, the Miners improved their record from the previous year during that season.  She was the lone assistant on the staff and was responsible for all scouting, film work and game planning, as well as travel arrangements. She also assisted in recruiting, player development and practice planning and budgetary decisions.

Carter, who is from Indianapolis, began her collegiate playing career at Oakland University and appeared in 28 games in her freshman season before transferring to Wabash Valley College.  She earned first-team all-conference and all-region honors during the 2009-10 season at Wabash Valley and then went on to finish her collegiate career at Coastal Carolina University.

At Coastal Carolina, she played in 55 games over two seasons and averaged 5.6 points and dished out 79 assists during that span.  Carter went on to play professionally for one season with BK Lokomotiva Karlovy Vary in the first division Czech Republic League.

Carter began her coaching career as an assistant coach at Thomas College for one season before returning to Wabash Valley; the Warriors advanced to the NJCAA Division I National Tournament's Sweet Sixteen in the 2014-15 season and had five players that she coached that went on to play at collegiately at the Division I or Division II levels.  The team went 55-12 during those two seasons with three all-conference players and a first-team All-America selection.

"I enjoyed my time here previously as an assistant coach and I am excited to return to this community with the opportunity to lead the Miner women's basketball team," Carter said.  "I cannot wait to get started with our team, to build lasting relationships with our student-athletes and to getting to work with them on the court."

Carter received her bachelor's degree in marketing from Coastal Carolina in 2012 and her master's degree in sports leadership from Duquesne University in 2015.