West Virginia University Athletics

With a penchant for setting new standards and taking Mountaineer women’s basketball to heights previously not thought of, Mike Carey enters his 21st season as head coach of the West Virginia University women’s basketball team.
 
His achievements speak volumes: the program’s all-time wins leader with 432 career victories; a school-record 30 wins; the highest national rankings in program history; 14 21-win seasons in 20 years—a school record; 13 consecutive postseason appearances (2007-19) — a school record; 43 victories over ranked opponents, including the highest-ranked team in school history and the highest-ranked road team in school history; victories over two eventual national runner-ups; four conference championship game appearances; 11 NCAA Tournament appearances (2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2021) and 10 trips in 14 years (2004, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017) and, in 2017, a Big 12 Tournament Title.
 
In 20 seasons at WVU, the three-time conference coach of the year has posted a 432-224 (.659) record. He holds the highest winning percentage in program history and reached 200 wins the fastest, doing so in his 10th season. During the 2020-21 campaign, Carey earned his 700th career victory against LSU. For his career, Carey boasts a 720-326 (.688) record in 33 years of coaching.
 

Playing Through a Pandemic

 
After a 17-12 regular season in 2019-20, the Mountaineers traveled to Kansas City, Missouri, as the No. 6 seed in the 2020 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship and were set to open tournament play against No. 3-seed Texas on March 13. Unfortunately, West Virginia didn’t make it to the opening round of the tournament – in fact, nobody did.
 
March 12, 2020, proved to be an infamous day in not only the history of sports, but the world also, as the COVID-19 pandemic began its vicious sweep through the United States, prompting the Big 12 Conference to cancel all remaining postseason events for the 2019-20 season. A day later, the NCAA announced that its annual March Madness basketball tournament would too be canceled.
 
With all basketball activities being suspended and the majority of the country under a state of lockdown, the Mountaineer women’s basketball program and other teams across the nation began to wonder how COVID-19 would affect the foreseeable future of college athletics, including the upcoming 2020-21 season.
 
Despite a bleak outlook on how sports could be played amidst a global pandemic, West Virginia University and the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics devised a plan to get Mike Carey and the Mountaineers back on the court. Weekly testing, contact tracing and physical distancing were all put in place to make sure West Virginia could have a safe season.
 
Beginning its season a month later than it normally would, WVU began the 2020-21 campaign at the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout in Las Vegas, Nevada. After grabbing a season-opening win against Fresno State, the Mountaineers bagged a 20-point victory over LSU to help Coach Carey earn his 700th career victory.
 
West Virginia then returned to Morgantown and grabbed a pair of wins against North Alabama and national powerhouse Tennessee in the Big 12/SEC Challenge. The Mountaineers split their next four contests against No. 7 Baylor, James Madison, Oklahoma State and Ohio before hitting their first, major roadblock of the season.
 
Three of the next four games for WVU were canceled due to their opponents’ COVID-19 health and safety protocols. On Dec. 22, the Coppin State game was canceled due to a two-week pause in the Eagles’ program, then to begin 2021, both the Kansas and Kansas State road matchups were postponed to later in the season.
 
After a hectic week of cancelations and rescheduled contests, the Mountaineers headed to Norman, Oklahoma, on Jan. 3, to square off against the Sooners in the new year. Led by a pair of 20-point games from guards Kysre Gondrezick and Kirsten Deans, WVU picked up its first Big 12 win of the season.
 
West Virginia’s next game proved to be one of its biggest victories of the year, as WVU welcomed No. 17-ranked Texas to the Coliseum on Jan. 9. Behind four double-figure scoring performances, including a 24-point effort from Gondrezick, the Mountaineers rolled the Longhorns, 92-58, to secure the largest margin of victory over a ranked opponent in program history.
 
Carey and his Mountaineers went on to win their next eight games to tally an 11-game win streak, the best run by a WVU team since the 2018-19 season.
 
Following a 72-71 upset by Oklahoma, West Virginia was scheduled to travel to Waco, Texas, for its rematch against Baylor on Feb. 17. However, a violent winter storm put Texas in a state of emergency and prompted the teams to reschedule the game for the regular-season finale.
 
On Feb. 20, Carey and WVU played host to TCU for senior day, as Gondrezick was honored prior to tip-off. West Virginia’s matchup against the Horned Frogs ended up being the final home contest of the season, as the team finished the final nine games – including four true road games – of the 2020-21 campaign away from home. The Mountaineers had not played four consecutive true road games since the 2007-08 season and had not played four consecutive road games in conference play since the 1990-91 season.
 
A year after the COVID-19 pandemic put a wrap on the 2020 Big 12 Championship, West Virginia returned to Kansas City as the No. 2 seed in the 2021 tournament, its highest seeding since 2014. In the opening round against No. 10-seed Kansas State, Deans provided one of the all-time great moments in program history in the closing seconds of the contest.
 
Down by seven with a minute remaining, the Mountaineers retained possession on a jump ball with 30 before Deans came up big and tied the game with a step-back, 3-pointer with 19 seconds to go. On the ensuing inbound play from the opposite end of the court, KSU guard Emilee Ebert's pass was tipped by center Blessing Ejiofor and Deans came up with the steal. The sophomore guard then drove the full length of the court, being closely defended the entire way, and converted the go-ahead score at the buzzer to help WVU secure the comeback win.
 
West Virginia then went on to defeat No. 3-seed Oklahoma State, 59-50, in the semifinals to advance to the championship game against No. 1-seed Baylor for the first time since 2017, when WVU won the conference tournament title.
 
The Mountaineers would end up making their return to the NCAA Tournament in 2021, after being selected as a No. 4 seed in the annual event. Playing in a regulated, bubble setting in San Antonio, Texas, WVU opened tournament action with a 77-53 victory over No. 13-seed Lehigh to advance to the round of 32 against No. 5-seed Georgia Tech. WVU would fall to the Yellow Jackets two days later to conclude the unusual, 2020-21 season.
 
During the year, Mike Carey was named a semifinalist for the Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year and was named a member of the 2021 Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Victory Club. Four members of the team were named to the All-Big 12 basketball team, including Gondrezick and forward Esmery Martinez, who became the first Mountaineer duo to be named to the first team since 2014. Gondrezick also collected All-America honors from the Associated Press and WBCA to become the 29th All-American in program history.
 

Persevering Through Adversity – Times Two

 
From 2017-19, Mountaineer women’s basketball continued to be successful even in the face of adversity, as the team lost starters to injury in both seasons. However, WVU ultimately overcame and reached new heights each year.
 
The return of Tynice Martin bolstered the lineup immediately, and a 24-point effort in a season-opening win against Coppin State showed she didn’t miss a beat. Even more impressively, Naomi Davenport became just the sixth Mountaineer to a record a triple-double when she put up 13 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in the 78-37 victory. After a heartbreaking 84-81 loss to No. 12 Iowa in the Bahamas and a 77-43 thrashing of rival Pitt, West Virginia rolled to a 9-2 mark in nonconference play.
 
The Mountaineers picked up their first Big 12 win of the season against Oklahoma State on Jan. 9, but it came at the cost of guard Katrina Pardee, who suffered an ankle injury that cost her the next 11 games. Despite injuries and foul-outs, the team gutted out a 66-55 win with just five players remaining at Oklahoma. Transfer Lucky Rudd stepped in flawlessly, and her 22-point effort guided WVU past then-No. 18 Iowa State the Coliseum.
 
Following a superb defensive effort that limited K-State to just 30 points, Martin scored 27 points to lead the Mountaineers to a 64-58 upset of No. 12 Texas – the program’s first-ever win over the Longhorns in Austin. Pardee made her return on Feb. 23 against Oklahoma and soon after, WVU claimed a 75-61 win at Kansas to produce another 20-win season. After an early exit in the Big 12 Championship, the Mountaineers hosted a trio of WNIT games before ending the season with a loss to Northwestern in the third round.
 
The league took notice of the gritty effort of the Mountaineers. Martin and Davenport earned All-Big 12 First Team accolades, while Martin added another WBCA All-America Honorable Mention to her resume. Freshmen Kari Niblack and Madisen Smith, both of whom made an incredible impact on the season, also garnered acknowledgment. Smith became the first Mountaineer since Martin to earn Big 12 All-Freshman honors, while Niblack became just the second player in program history to win the league’s Sixth Man of the Year award.
 
To start 2017-18, Carey’s Mountaineers were dealt a blow before school had even started for the semester: AP and WBCA All-America Honorable Mention Tynice Martin was injured at U23 Team U.S.A. camp and would miss the entire 2017-18 season. Several other key reserves joined her in the training room, and sophomore guard Kysre Gondrezick was forced to sit after transferring from Michigan. Despite just eight active players available for the majority of the year, Carey worked his magic and put together another 20-win season, posting a 25-12 mark overall. West Virginia posted wins over rivals Pitt and Virginia Tech, the latter earning the Mountaineers the 2017 Paradise Jam Island Division title.
 
The team’s signature win came in December at No. 21 Texas A&M, who went on to advance to the third round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament. Senior forward Kristina King went down in December with a foot injury, but the Mountaineers continued on and posted a 12-game win streak to start the season and ranked as high as No. 9 in the national polls.
 
Senior forward Teana Muldrow, who capped the season as a national finalist for the inaugural Cheryl Miller Award and with AP All-America Honorable Mention accolades, and junior college transfer Naomi Davenport ranked among the league’s best in scoring and helped the squad compile an 8-10 mark in league play. The two teamed with senior guard Chania Ray and junior guard Katrina Pardee to help the Mountaineers set program marks in points scored, 3-point field goals made, 3-point field goals attempted and assists.
 
After falling to Texas in the Big 12 Championship, the Mountaineers were one of the first four left out of the NCAA Tournament and made a run in the 2018 Postseason WNIT before falling to Virginia Tech in the semifinals. The loss ended a 40-game home win streak against nonconference opponents for the Mountaineers, though Carey’s all-time record against nonconference foes inside the WVU Coliseum moved to 116-7 with the WNIT run.
 
However, the season highlights didn’t end there. Muldrow became the third consecutive WVU player drafted professionally when she was selected by the Seattle Storm with the 29th pick of the 2018 WNBA Draft.
 

A Big 12 Title and Yet Another Top-25 Finish

Led by Martin, Carey’s Mountaineers made a magical run through the 2017 Phillips 66 Big 12 Tournament, knocking off No. 19 Oklahoma and No. 12/14 Texas before shocking No. 2 Baylor, 77-66, in the championship game to win the program’s first-ever Big 12 Tournament Championship. Martin paced the team with 82 points to earn the Big 12 Championship Most Outstanding Player award and was joined on the all-tournament team by Muldrow. The Mountaineers went on to make their 10th NCAA Tournament appearance under Carey, advancing to the second round and finishing the season ranked at No. 20/22 in the polls.
 
Center Lanay Montgomery capped her career by becoming the sixth Mountaineer to be selected in the WNBA draft as she was 30th overall by the Seattle Storm. The Pittsburgh native departed Morgantown ranked second in WVU program history and fourth in Big 12 Conference history with 330 blocks. Additionally, she ranks seventh all-time at West Virginia with 7.1 rebounds per game and 20 double-doubles. Montgomery was a two-time Big 12 All-Defensive Team honoree, All-Big 12 Honorable Mention, Allstate Good Works Team nominee and Senior CLASS Award, nominee.
 
In 2015-16, Carey developed one of the nation’s youngest teams into another Top-25 finish as the Mountaineers finished 25-10 overall and 12-6 in Big 12 Conference action to place third in the league. The Mountaineers reached their 10th consecutive postseason appearance and returned to the NCAA Tournament for the ninth time under Carey. WVU picked up two Top 25 victories over No. 20/21 Oklahoma and No. 22 Oklahoma State. West Virginia reached the NCAA Tournament Second Round for the ninth time under Carey. WVU finished ranked in the Associated Press and USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll for the fifth time in program history. WVU won a 2015-16 NCAA Statistical Award after leading the nation with 6.5 blocked shots per game. He was honored at the end of the season for his 300-plus victories with the WBCA Victory Club award. 
 
Mountaineer standout Bria Holmes capped her illustrious career as the program’s highest WNBA draft pick with her 11th overall selection in the first round by the Atlanta Dream in April 2016. Holmes, a native of New Haven, Connecticut, finished third in all-time scoring at WVU with 2,001 points and ranks in WVU’s top 10 in multiple statistical categories. Holmes was a three-time unanimous All-Big 12 Honorable Mention Selection and was a four-time All-American Honorable Mention selection by the Associated Press and the WBCA. Additionally, Holmes was named to the Senior CLASS Award All-America Second Team.
 
Junior center Lanay Montgomery was named to the 2015-16 Big 12 All-Defensive Team and garnered All-Big 12 Honorable Second Team accolades. Senior Arielle Roberson picked up All-Big 12 Honorable Mention. Rookie Tynice Martin was named the Big 12’s Freshman of the Year and was a finalist for the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) National Freshman of the Year.
With the loss of six seniors from the 2014 Big 12 Championship team, Carey retooled his lineup to help the Mountaineers set records and reach the WNIT Championship game. The Mountaineers knocked off three Top-25 programs (No. 21 Oklahoma State, No. 24 Oklahoma and No. 24 Texas and WVU played UCLA in front of a raucous crowd of 8,658 in the WNIT title game held at the Charleston Civic Center in Charleston, West Virginia.
 
His 2014-15 Mountaineers posted a new school record and tied the nation with 19 home victories. West Virginia set new single-season marks with 1,621 rebounds and 242 blocks. The Mountaineers’ 6.4 blocks per game led the Big 12 and ranked 10th nationally.
Holmes became only the third West Virginia player to garner consecutive first-team all-conference honors with her First Team All-Big 12 designation. The New Haven, Connecticut native’s 716 points were second-most in a single-season by a WVU junior. She also set new season records with 37 double-figure scoring games and 1,389 minutes played.  Holmes, a WBCA All-America Honorable Mention, later earned an invite to the 2015 USA Basketball Pan American Games and World University Games Team Trials.
 
Also, in 2014-15, center Montgomery became the first Mountaineer to eclipse the century mark in single-season blocks. The dominant post deflected 124 blocks, leading the Big 12 and finishing 10th nationally.
 

Five Consecutive NCAA Appearances

In only his second season in the Big 12 Conference, Carey led the Mountaineers to a 2014 Big 12 regular-season championship title, finishing with a 16-2 league record and sharing the top of the league standings with Baylor. Carey was named Big 12 Coach of the Year as the Mountaineers captured a conference regular-season title for the first time since winning the Atlantic 10 title in 1992.
 
The Mountaineers made a run to the Big 12 Championship title game, while senior center Asya Bussie and sophomore guard Holmes were named to the Big 12 All-Tournament Team. In addition to the tournament, Bussie and Holmes were All-Big 12 First Team honorees, including a unanimous selection for Holmes. Bussie was also named Big 12 All-Defensive Team alongside classmate Jess Harlee and Taylor Palmer as the Big 12’s Sixth Man of the Year.
 
The 2013-14 season had many firsts. WVU recorded its most wins in program history with a 30-5 overall record, made its fifth consecutive NCAA appearance with a No. 2 seed—the highest in program history, recorded its highest ranking to date in program history at No. 5 in the Associated Press poll and recorded wins over five top-25 teams, including four in the top 15, also a feat never done before.
At the close of the season, Bussie was selected in the second round by the Minnesota Lynx as the No. 15 overall pick in the 2014 WNBA Draft. At the time, Bussie became WVU’s highest WNBA Draft pick in program history. The Randallstown, Maryland, native was a two-time All-American Honorable Mention selection by the Associated Press and the WBCA.
 
The 2012-13 season marked the fourth consecutive NCAA appearance for Carey and the Mountaineers. Closing out its inaugural season in the Big 12 Conference with a 17-14 overall record and a 9-9 mark in league play, WVU landed a No. 6 seed in its first-ever Big 12 Conference Tournament. Four Mountaineers added all-conference honors to their names as Christal Caldwell earned first-team, Ayana Dunning closed out her career with an honorable mention accolade, Jess Harlee was named to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team and Holmes landed a spot on the Big 12 All-Freshman Team.
 
Although it was its inaugural season in the Big 12 Conference, Carey continued to play a tough schedule, facing eight opponents, four twice, ranked in the top-50 RPI, defeating back-to-back top-25 Associated Press ranked teams en route to three total wins over ranked opponents, recorded seven road wins and trailed by 10 or more in three games, in which the Mountaineers rallied for a comeback win. The West Virginia women’s basketball program set a new attendance record as 13,447 fans came to the Coliseum for WVU’s March 2 game against No. 1 Baylor, an attendance figure that ranked in the top-10 nationally for a regular-season game. Off the court, six Mountaineers were honored by the conference on the Academic All-Big 12 team, the most players of any team to earn the honor.
 
In the 2011-12 season, Carey coached a Mountaineer squad returning only one senior and one starter from the previous season to its third consecutive NCAA Tournament and fourth in the last five seasons. Predicted to finish ninth in the Big East Preseason Coaches’ Poll, the Mountaineers exceeded expectations finishing in a tie for fourth place and earning a bye in the Big East Championship. WVU’s scoring defense ranked in the top 10 nationally all season, closing out the year at No. 6, and held 23 opponents to under 60 points. WVU defeated 17 opponents by a double-figure margin and out-rebounded 28 opponents, including 13 Big East teams in the regular season.
 
For the first time in program history, WVU defeated three-straight top 25 teams, including the highest-ranked opponent in program history as the Mountaineers took a 65-63 victory from No. 2 Notre Dame in front of a sold-out crowd on national television. The win was WVU’s first-ever in Notre Dame, Ind. Carey saw three players earn all-conference honors as junior Asya Bussie, the 15th player in WVU history to reach 1,000 points and 500 rebounds, was named first-team All-BIG EAST, sophomore Christal Caldwell earned All-BIG EAST honorable mention and Linda Stepney was named to the All-BIG EAST freshman team.
 

A Decade of Success

The Mountaineers experienced success from the start of the 2010-11 season as WVU earned its highest-ever preseason ranking in the Associated Press poll at No. 11 with seniors Liz Repella and Sarah Miles earning BIG EAST preseason honors. The season opened on a 19-0 win streak, the best start to a season in program history, and the Mountaineers moved up to the highest-ever ranking in program history at No. 6 in the polls, staying there for four straight weeks. Within its undefeated start, WVU defeated No. 21 TCU, Virginia and No. 19 Iowa State on the way to becoming Paradise Jam Island Division Champions. Senior co-captains Repella and Madina Ali were named to the all-tournament team, while Repella also earned MVP honors.
 
Driven by Carey’s motivation for defensive play, the Mountaineers’ scoring defense ranked No. 1 nationally for five-straight weeks and stayed within the top-10 nationwide for the entire season. WVU was led by five seniors, who amassed the most wins in two seasons in program history with a 53-15 mark. Carey recorded his 200th win as head coach at WVU on Feb. 19, 2011, as the Mountaineers tallied their highest point total of the season with a 90-79 win at Pitt.
Under Carey’s guidance, WVU recorded six 20-win seasons in the last eight years, made its fifth NCAA appearance in eight seasons and its fourth NCAA Second Round appearance in the last five seasons. Ali was named to the All-BIG EAST second team, while Repella earned first-team honors for the second consecutive season. Repella was named a Capital One Academic All-America first team member in back-to-back seasons and was named to the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award All-America second team as a finalist for the award.
 
With 50 percent of its games on television and nine games nationally televised, including ESPN2’s Big Monday, WVU experienced some of its greatest crowds in program history. Six crowds ranked in the top 20 all-time at the WVU Coliseum, helping the Mountaineers to a school record for total (49,648) and average (3,103) home attendance; ranking 35th of all NCAA Division I programs and recording the fifth-largest per game increase nationally from the previous season.
 
In 2009-10, Carey guided WVU to the best record in school history at the time with a 29-6 mark, its best finish in BIG EAST regular-season play at second place with 13 league victories, the school’s second appearance in the BIG EAST title game as the tournament’s No. 2 seed, the second-longest win streak (16) in school history and the highest national rankings in the program’s 37-year history (No. 7 in both major polls). WVU was undefeated at home for the second time in school history, boasted the most wins ever at the WVU Coliseum (17-0) and knocked off No. 13 Georgetown and No. 22 Pitt in the process at home.
 
He was named BIG EAST co-Coach of the Year, with Connecticut’s Geno Auriemma, and guided four players to All-BIG EAST honors: Sarah Miles (Defensive Player of the Year and second-team), Liz Repella (first team), Asya Bussie (unanimous all-freshman team) and Korinne Campbell (honorable mention). Repella and Miles also garnered all-league tournament team honors. WVU advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time under Carey and advanced to the second round for the third time under his tutelage.
 
In 2008-09, Carey guided the Mountaineers to an 18-15 record and a WNIT second-round appearance with just eight healthy players. Along the way, the Mountaineers defeated eventual national runner-up and No. 5 Louisville, the highest-ranked road team WVU had ever defeated. WVU also defeated eventual WNIT champion USF at home.
 
Carey guided Repella and Takisha Granberry to all-BIG EAST second-team accolades and guard Miles garnered the league’s Most Improved Player of the Year award.
In 2007-08, the Mountaineers reached new heights under the Clarksburg native. WVU recorded a 25-8 record, the second-most wins in school history, and advanced to the NCAA second round for the second-consecutive season. WVU was ranked in the nation’s Top 20 in both major polls in the season’s entirety for the first time in school history, reaching as high as No. 11 in the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ Poll.
 
In league play, the Mountaineers compiled a 12-4 record and finished third in the nation’s toughest conference – their highest finish since joining the BIG EAST in 1995-96. Carey also notched his 400th coaching victory with WVU’s win at Rhode Island.
Olayinka Sanni garnered honorable mention All-America honors and was named to the All-BIG EAST first team for the second consecutive season. Meg Bulger and LaQuita Owens garnered second-team recognition.

In 2006-07, Carey led WVU to a 21-11 record and advanced to the NCAA tournament’s second round. Equally impressive, WVU finished with an 11-5 mark in the BIG EAST. The Mountaineers finished fourth in the league, earning their then-highest-ever regular-season finish since joining the BIG EAST in 1996 and notching a first-round championship bye.
 
Three Mountaineers also garnered all-conference accolades en route to postseason success: Sanni (first team), Owens (second team) and Chakhia Cole (honorable mention).
West Virginia reached the 2006 BIG EAST championship game for the first time in school history. Along the way, WVU, seeded No. 12, knocked off No. 5 Louisville in opening round action, No. 4 St. John’s in the quarterfinals and No. 1 Rutgers in the semifinals (ranked sixth nationally). It marked the first time in the 23-year history of the BIG EAST tournament that a 12-seed had won a game, let alone advanced to the championship contest.
 
At the time, the win over the Scarlet Knights marked the highest-ranked opponent WVU had ever defeated in program history. Junior guard Britney Davis-White and sophomore guard Cole garnered All-BIG EAST tournament team honors. Meg Bulger earned Associated Press honorable mention All-America accolades and all-BIG EAST second-team recognition.
 
In 2004-05, the Mountaineers posted a 21-13 mark and reached the Postseason WNIT championship game. Carey guided guard Bulger and point guard Yolanda Paige to honorable mention All-America honors and All-BIG EAST first and second-team honors, respectively. Bulger, a unanimous first-team selection, became the first Mountaineer in school history ever named to that team.
Paige, who shattered every WVU assist and minutes played record, led the nation in assists with 297 and became the first BIG EAST player taken in the 2005 WNBA draft by the Indiana Fever with the 16th overall selection.
 
During that season Carey notched his 350th career victory with an 81-50 win at home against Syracuse.
Carey was named 2003-04 BIG EAST Coach of the Year, as voted by the league’s coaches, in just his third season after the Mountaineers notched a 21-11 season, the third-most wins in school history, and reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 12 seasons.
 
Under Carey’s guidance, West Virginia won six more conference games (10-6) than it did in all of the previous seasons. It was the second-best league turnaround from one season to the next in BIG EAST history.
 
Among highly noted victories, Carey led WVU to wins over two ranked teams in No. 19/21 Virginia Tech during the regular season and No. 23/23 Villanova in quarterfinal round action of the BIG EAST tournament. Those wins marked the first time in school history that WVU defeated two ranked teams in the same season. The victory over the Wildcats advanced WVU into the BIG EAST tournament’s semifinals for the first time in school history.
 
Three Mountaineers garnered all-conference recognition under Carey’s guidance: freshman Meg Bulger was named freshman of the year; sister and senior guard Kate Bulger was named to the second team; junior Paige was named to the third team and became the first Mountaineer named to the BIG EAST all-tournament team.
 
Carey became WVU’s sixth women’s basketball coach in March 2001, after 13 seasons as head men’s coach at Salem College. Given the task of resurrecting the women’s program, Carey worked with holdovers from a 5-22 campaign and only a few newcomers in his first year.
 
He took the program one step farther the next season, in 2002-03, as he guided WVU to its first winning season since 1996-97 with a 15-13 mark and back to the BIG EAST tournament for a second consecutive season. Carey also directed Kate Bulger, Sherell Sowho and Paige to all-BIG EAST honors, then the first time in school history the Mountaineers had three players receive all-conference recognition in the same season. Kate Bulger was also a third-team All-BIG EAST performer in 2002-03.
 
But his efforts didn’t stop there. Carey’s second recruiting class was ranked 16th nationally by All-Star Girl’s Report, one of the nation’s leading scouting service.
 
His third recruiting class that consisted of Yelena Leuchanka and Meg Bulger was rated the fourth-best class in the nation for a class of two or less by All-Star.
 
During the early signing period of the 2003-04 campaign, Carey inked the 17th-best recruiting class by All-Star.
 

Mountaineers in the WNBA

 
WVU is rapidly gaining a reputation for sending its own players on to the WNBA and professional ranks overseas. Since 2004, nine former Mountaineers have had links to the WNBA.
 
Guard Kate Bulger (2001-04) became the first WVU player drafted in the WNBA as she went as the final pick (No. 38) in the third round to the Minnesota Lynx in 2004. All-American point guard Yolanda Paige then became the first player out of WVU to make a WNBA roster as she was drafted by the Indiana Fever in the second round of the 2005 WNBA Draft with the 16th overall pick.
Center Yelena Leuchanka (2004-06) played three seasons in the WNBA with three different franchises as a free agent: the Charlotte Sting in 2006, the Washington Mystics in 2007 and the Atlanta Dream in 2010.
 
Olayinka Sanni (2005-08), an All-American center drafted in the second round as the No. 18 overall pick of the 2008 WNBA draft by the Detroit Shock, won the WNBA Championship her rookie season. After two seasons with Detroit, she played the 2011 season with the Phoenix Mercury. She also plays overseas.
 
Center Asya Bussie (2010-14) was selected in the second round by the Minnesota Lynx as the No. 15 overall pick in the 2014 WNBA Draft. Bussie became WVU’s second-highest WNBA Draft pick in program history. The Randallstown, Md., native was a two-time All-American Honorable Mention selection by the Associated Press and the WBCA.
 
Guard Bria Holmes (2013-16) became the first Mountaineer to be drafted in the first round of the WNBA Draft with her 11th overall section by the Atlanta Dream in the 2016 WNBA Draft. Holmes finished third on WVU’s all-time scoring list with 2,001 career points and earned All-America Honorable Mention from the Associated Press and WBCA, as well as Senior CLASS Award Second Team All-America accolades.
 
Center Lanay Montgomery (2013-17) became the second consecutive WVU player to be selected in the WNBA Draft when the Seattle Storm selected her with the 30th pick in the third round of the 2017 draft. Montgomery finished her career with 937 rebounds (7.1 rpg), 855 points (6.5 ppg), 330 blocks (2.5 bpg), 71 steals (0.5 spg), and 49 assists (0.4 apg) and set the program’s career field goal percentage record with a 59.6 shooting percentage (355-of-596). She also ranks No. 2 all-time with 330 blocked shots.
 
Forward Teana Muldrow (2013-18) was the third straight Mountaineer taken in the draft when she was selected 29th overall by the Seattle Storm in the 2018 WNBA Draft. West Virginia’s all-time leader in games played, Muldrow departed Morgantown ranked in the top-10 all-time in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots, among other categories. Additionally, she earned AP All-America Honorable Mention following a stellar senior campaign in 2017-18.
 
Guard Tynice Martin (2016-20) was taken with the 36th overall pick by the Los Angeles Sparks in the 2020 WNBA Draft. The two-time, All-Big 12 First Teamer finished her career as the No. 4 scorer in program history, with 1,980 career points. Martin’s career numbers also put her in the top five in field goals made, 3-point field goals made and free-throw percentage.
 
Guard Kysre Gondrezick (2018-21) became the latest Mountaineer to be drafted into the WNBA ranks and became the highest drafted player in program history when the Indiana Fever selected her with the fourth overall pick in the first round of the 2021 draft. During her senior campaign, Gondrezick became the 29th All-American in program history and became the third WVU player to be unanimously selected to the All-Big 12 First Team. Among WVU's all-time career leaders, Gondrezick ranks No. 2 all-time in minutes played per game (34.86) and No. 4 all-time in scoring average (17.14).
 

Academic Success

Under Carey’s guidance 55 student-athletes have graduated and over 250 have been named to the Garrett Ford Academic Honor Roll. With a high regard for academics, Carey had six players named to the Academic All-Big 12 team in WVU’s inaugural season in the league, the most players of any team to earn the honor. Fifty-two total players have been named to the Academic All-Big 12 Team, while 57 players were named to the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll. Junior Jess Harlee, an industrial engineering major, earned the national title of the 2013 Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar of the Year by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education Magazine and went on to be named the 2014 Big 12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
In 2021, redshirt senior Kysre Gondrezick represented the Mountaineers on the CoSIDA Academic All-District Women’s Basketball team, becoming the sixth player and ninth overall selection to the annual squad in program history.
 
In 2015, senior Averee Fields became the first Mountaineer to win the Haier Achievement Award. Fields would later become a Capital One Academic All-America second-team selection – the second Academic All-America honoree under Mike Carey. Fields was also named the 2015 Big 12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
 
Carey experienced his largest graduating class in 2011, which had six graduates. Part of that class was two-time CoSIDA first-team all-America selection Liz Repella, the second player in program history to receive such an honor. She also was named to the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award All-America second team as a finalist for the award, leading WVU to a team grade point average of 3.14.
 
Repella became Carey’s first CoSIDA Academic All-District II first team member in 2009 and she did so again in 2010. Repella was recognized by the BIG EAST in 2009 and 2011 as she earned the conference's Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence Award.
 
In 2003, Jess Fisher earned CoSIDA Academic All-District II second-team honors and Sparkle Davis joined her with the accolade a year later.
 

Prior to West Virginia University

Carey served as the head men’s basketball coach at Salem College (Div. II) in Salem, West Virginia before he took the reins of the program, the Tigers posted an 8-19 mark in the 1987-88 season. The program suffered just one losing campaign during his regime.
 
In 13 seasons, Carey's Salem teams made seven postseason appearances (two NAIA and five NCAA Division II) and won five WVIAC championships (1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999).
 
Three times the WVIAC tournament champion, the Tigers were twice participants in the Division II Elite Eight, ranked No. 1 in the country during two seasons and played in the Division II Final Four in 1997. A four-time WVIAC Coach of the Year (1994, 1997-99), Carey twice was named NCAA Division II East Region coach of the year (1997, 1999).
 
In his last season before coming to Morgantown, Carey’s Tigers were 26-7 ranked as high as No. 4 nationally and advanced to the NCAA East Region finals. Carey's career record at Salem was 288-102; his record during the last five years of his tenure was 138-20. He had also served as director of athletics at Salem since 1989.
 
Before going to Salem as an assistant coach in 1987, Carey coached for seven years in the West Virginia high school ranks, serving as girls' basketball coach at Flemington and Clarksburg Liberty High Schools. In 1986, he was Harrison County and Big 10 Coach of the Year, as Liberty advanced to the regional finals. As boys’ coach in 1987, he led Liberty to conference, county and sectional titles.
 

Personal

Carey was a four-year basketball letterman at Salem, earning WVIAC Freshman of the Year (1977), WVIAC scoring champion (1978) and Salem MVP and WVIAC all-tournament team (1979) honors while scoring more than 2,000 career points. He was a 1993 inductee into the Salem Athletic Hall of Fame. Carey's No. 32 jersey was retired at Liberty High School in Clarksburg, West Virginia, on February 19, 2016.
 
A native of Clarksburg, West Virginia, Carey is a 1980 Salem graduate with a bachelor’s degree in physical education. He received his master’s degree from Salem in 1988. Carey and his wife, the former Cheryl Minnix, have four children. Chris and his wife Erica are the parents of Caden and Cameron. Chelsy, who is married to former Mountaineer basketball standout Wellington Smith, is the mother of Sloane and Savannah, who was born in the summer of 2019. Craig was named an assistant coach on his father’s staff in June 2019, and Chelby is married to former practice player Nick Dyer.

Career Record

All-Time WNBA Players

Kate Bulger
2004

Asya Bussie
2014

Kysre Gondrezick
2021-Present

Bria Holmes
2016-present

Yelena Leuchanka
2006-07, 2010, 2012

Tynice Martin
2020

Lanay Montgomery
2017

Teana Muldrow
2018

Yolanda Paige
2005

Olayinka Sanni
2008-09, 2011