Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
A Familiar Face Sitting Next to WVU's Carey
October 31, 2017 01:01 PM | Women's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - That new face Mike Carey has sitting next to him on the bench this year is familiar one to Mountaineer basketball fans.
Christal Caldwell, a standout guard on Carey's 2014 Big 12 championship team that won 30 games and lost at LSU in the NCAA Tournament, is back in Morgantown working with West Virginia's guards after spending the last two seasons as an assistant coach at La Salle.
Caldwell's ascension to Big 12 basketball since graduating three years ago from WVU with a degree in psychology has been meteoric.
She played professionally for one year in Romania before returning to the U.S. to work on Jeff Williams' La Salle staff, first in operations before moving to the bench last year.
Caldwell tutored the guards last season and two of her players, Amy Griffin and Jasmine Alston, were recognized by the Atlantic 10 Conference for their outstanding play. The Explorers jumped from five victories in 2016 to 17 last season.
So, when former WVU assistant coach Diane Richardson got the Towson head coaching job last summer, the first call Carey made was to Caldwell.
"Coach Carey literally called me as soon as she accepted the position and said, 'Hey, I have something open, are you in or are you out?' I definitely said I was in, no hesitation, and came back to Morgantown," Caldwell said.
What Carey is getting in Christal Caldwell is an outstanding role model for the players and a bright, up-and-coming young coach.
Carey said he could already see some of those qualities in her as a player.
"She was always the one talking to the team when she was here," Carey recalled. "She was a great leader so it didn't surprise me that she ended up getting into coaching."
When Caldwell made the decision to quit playing professionally and pursue a coaching career, the thought of returning to her alma mater was always in the back of her mind.
She just didn't think it would happen so quickly.
"I always thought about it once I got into coaching and said it would be great to come back and coach at my alma mater, but I never imagined it happening so soon in my coaching career," she admitted. "I'm just grateful for the opportunity and glad that Coach Carey trusts me to come back and work with his program and continue to help it reach the success that it already has."
Carey had a two-fold interest in bringing Caldwell home. One, she already knows his system, knows his terminology and the way he does things and was capable of stepping right in and teaching it to the players.
And, two, she is young enough to relate to them and provide a bridge between the players and the rest of the coaching staff.
"It's great because I can go to them and use her as an example, 'Go to her, don't come to me. Cry to Christal and she will tell you how it was when she was here and why you should fight through this because at the end it will make you a better person and a better player,'" Carey said.
Former player Ayana Dunning is another former Mountaineer back on the coaching staff to help in that role as the team's coordinator of player development.
"They've been great having them on staff because players will go to them," Carey noted. "And I know they're making fun of me, but that's okay. They need to have those conversations."
Caldwell is eager and willing to help the players understand things better, as long as they realize that she's their coach and not another peer.
"I'm in a coaching position where they have to listen to what I'm telling them, but I do use my experiences," she said. "I graduated from here three years ago so I take that to still be able to kind of understand the way they process things and the way they think about it and kind of use my experiences to help them understand what Coach Carey is saying."
Caldwell, responsible for recruiting Philadelphia, her native North Carolina and parts of Florida, is still young enough to jump in and demonstrate drills when she has to.
Carey admits he's jokingly considered suiting her up as an extra player; Dunning too.
"Believe me, I've thought about that," he laughed. "Ya-Ya, too. I've thought about getting her knees lubricated and get her going. Matter of fact, we're willing to take a guy and put a wig on him if we could get away with it."
Turning serious, Carey said he's happy to be able to provide some opportunities for deserving players to return to WVU to pursue their careers.
"I think it's important to take care of your players," Carey said. "Your players gave you four, long years and to put up with me for four years … I owe them something."
He said Lanay Montgomery is back on campus this fall to work out and get ready to resume her professional basketball overseas. Others have returned over the years as well.
But Caldwell is the first Mountaineer player he's coached that he's brought back in a coaching role at West Virginia.
Perhaps one day down the road, Caldwell, just 27, may be running her own program. Carey said he has never coached against one of his former players, and is not sure how he will react when it happens.
"That will be great," he said, "as long as we win. It won't be great if we lose. Hey, I'll give them a big hug before the game and then after the game only if we win. I'll give them a handshake afterward if they beat us."
Christal Caldwell, a standout guard on Carey's 2014 Big 12 championship team that won 30 games and lost at LSU in the NCAA Tournament, is back in Morgantown working with West Virginia's guards after spending the last two seasons as an assistant coach at La Salle.
Caldwell's ascension to Big 12 basketball since graduating three years ago from WVU with a degree in psychology has been meteoric.
She played professionally for one year in Romania before returning to the U.S. to work on Jeff Williams' La Salle staff, first in operations before moving to the bench last year.
Caldwell tutored the guards last season and two of her players, Amy Griffin and Jasmine Alston, were recognized by the Atlantic 10 Conference for their outstanding play. The Explorers jumped from five victories in 2016 to 17 last season.
So, when former WVU assistant coach Diane Richardson got the Towson head coaching job last summer, the first call Carey made was to Caldwell.
"Coach Carey literally called me as soon as she accepted the position and said, 'Hey, I have something open, are you in or are you out?' I definitely said I was in, no hesitation, and came back to Morgantown," Caldwell said.
What Carey is getting in Christal Caldwell is an outstanding role model for the players and a bright, up-and-coming young coach.
Carey said he could already see some of those qualities in her as a player.
"She was always the one talking to the team when she was here," Carey recalled. "She was a great leader so it didn't surprise me that she ended up getting into coaching."
When Caldwell made the decision to quit playing professionally and pursue a coaching career, the thought of returning to her alma mater was always in the back of her mind.
She just didn't think it would happen so quickly.
"I always thought about it once I got into coaching and said it would be great to come back and coach at my alma mater, but I never imagined it happening so soon in my coaching career," she admitted. "I'm just grateful for the opportunity and glad that Coach Carey trusts me to come back and work with his program and continue to help it reach the success that it already has."
Carey had a two-fold interest in bringing Caldwell home. One, she already knows his system, knows his terminology and the way he does things and was capable of stepping right in and teaching it to the players.
And, two, she is young enough to relate to them and provide a bridge between the players and the rest of the coaching staff.
"It's great because I can go to them and use her as an example, 'Go to her, don't come to me. Cry to Christal and she will tell you how it was when she was here and why you should fight through this because at the end it will make you a better person and a better player,'" Carey said.
Former player Ayana Dunning is another former Mountaineer back on the coaching staff to help in that role as the team's coordinator of player development.
"They've been great having them on staff because players will go to them," Carey noted. "And I know they're making fun of me, but that's okay. They need to have those conversations."
Caldwell is eager and willing to help the players understand things better, as long as they realize that she's their coach and not another peer.
"I'm in a coaching position where they have to listen to what I'm telling them, but I do use my experiences," she said. "I graduated from here three years ago so I take that to still be able to kind of understand the way they process things and the way they think about it and kind of use my experiences to help them understand what Coach Carey is saying."
Caldwell, responsible for recruiting Philadelphia, her native North Carolina and parts of Florida, is still young enough to jump in and demonstrate drills when she has to.
Carey admits he's jokingly considered suiting her up as an extra player; Dunning too.
"Believe me, I've thought about that," he laughed. "Ya-Ya, too. I've thought about getting her knees lubricated and get her going. Matter of fact, we're willing to take a guy and put a wig on him if we could get away with it."
Turning serious, Carey said he's happy to be able to provide some opportunities for deserving players to return to WVU to pursue their careers.
"I think it's important to take care of your players," Carey said. "Your players gave you four, long years and to put up with me for four years … I owe them something."
He said Lanay Montgomery is back on campus this fall to work out and get ready to resume her professional basketball overseas. Others have returned over the years as well.
But Caldwell is the first Mountaineer player he's coached that he's brought back in a coaching role at West Virginia.
Perhaps one day down the road, Caldwell, just 27, may be running her own program. Carey said he has never coached against one of his former players, and is not sure how he will react when it happens.
"That will be great," he said, "as long as we win. It won't be great if we lose. Hey, I'll give them a big hug before the game and then after the game only if we win. I'll give them a handshake afterward if they beat us."
Players Mentioned
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