Bill Carmody

Bill Carmody
Carmody introduced at Holy Cross, March 2015
Biographical details
Born (1951-12-04) December 4, 1951 (age 72)
Rahway, New Jersey, U.S.
Playing career
1970–1975Union (NY)
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1975–1976Fulton–Montgomery CC
1976–1980Union (NY) (assistant)
1980–1981Providence (assistant)
1982–1996Princeton (assistant)
1996–2000Princeton
2000–2013Northwestern
2015–2019Holy Cross
Head coaching record
Overall342–318
Tournaments2–3 (NCAA Division I)
5–6 (NIT)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
2 Ivy League regular season (1997, 1998)
Patriot League tournament (2016)
Awards
Big Ten Coach of the Year (2004)
Records
Ivy League career winning percentage (min 4 seasons, 78.6% — 92–25, Princeton, 1996–2000)

William D. Carmody (born December 4, 1951) is a retired American men's college basketball coach, formerly the head coach at the College of the Holy Cross.[1] He was the head coach of the Wildcats men's basketball team at Northwestern University from 2000 through 2013. From 1996 through 2000, Carmody was the head coach at Princeton University.[2]

Early life and education

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Carmody was born in Rahway, New Jersey, and grew up in Spring Lake, where he attended St. Rose High School, a Roman Catholic private school, in nearby Belmar. He attended and graduated from Union College in Schenectady, New York, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history in 1975. He led Union's basketball team to a 59–11 record in his three years as a starter.[3]

Career

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After graduating from Union College, Carmody served as head coach of Fulton-Montgomery Community College in Johnstown, New York, and led the team to a 17–10 record and conference title in his only season there. He returned to Union the following year as an assistant coach under head coach Bill Scanlon. In 1980, Carmody became a part-time assistant at Providence College, where he worked for 2 seasons under head coach Gary Walters.

Princeton

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From 1982 through 1996, he was an assistant basketball coach at Princeton University under the Tigers' legendary coach, Pete Carril. After fourteen years, he became the head coach in 1996 when Carril retired. Despite not being able to offer athletic scholarships due to Ivy League rules, Carmody's 1997–1998 team reached a ranking as high as 7th nationally, and was ranked 8th nationally going into the NCAA Tournament. This led to a number-five seed in the NCAA tournament. That team lost in the second round of the tournament to #4 seed (and eventual 10th ranked) Michigan State, and was ranked 16th nationally at the conclusion of the tournament. He is considered one of the leading practitioners of the Princeton offense. While coaching Princeton, he established the Ivy League career winning percentage record of 78.6%, going 92–25.[4]

Northwestern

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Carmody (center) in the Northwestern huddle on January 3, 2013

In 2000, he succeeded Kevin O'Neill as the head coach of the Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball team. One of his top assistants from 2000 to 2006 was Craig Robinson, the brother of former First Lady Michelle Obama. From 2008 to 2014, Robinson was the head coach at Oregon State University.[5]

In 2003–04, Carmody led the Wildcats to an 8–8 record in Big Ten play, their first non-losing record in conference play since 1967–68.

On January 18, Northwestern defeated the then-number-seventeen Minnesota Golden Gophers.[6] On January 21, 2009, Carmody's Kevin Coble-led Wildcats defeated number-seven Michigan State University at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan earning their second consecutive win over an opponent ranked in the AP top 25,[7] marking the first time in school history for such a feat. The 2008–09 unit became the first in school history to win 20 games and briefly flirted with the first NCAA Tournament appearance in school history.

On December 28, 2009, Northwestern was ranked number 25 in the Associated Press Basketball Poll,[8] marking the first time Northwestern had been ranked in the AP Poll since 1969. The 2009–10 team also notched the school's second-ever 20-win season.

Despite Carmody's efforts to upgrade the Wildcat program, his teams never finished higher than fifth in the Big Ten, and his 2003–04 team was the only one that finished with even a .500 record in conference play. After the Wildcats suffered their first losing season in six years, Carmody was fired on March 16, 2013.[9] He left as the second-winningest coach in school history, behind only Dutch Lonborg.

Holy Cross

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After spending the 2014–15 season as a special assistant and advisor to Fairfield coach Sydney Johnson, Carmody was hired as the head coach of the Holy Cross Crusaders in March 2015.[10] In Carmody's first year with the Crusaders, his team won the Patriot League Tournament Championship. After going 0–9 on the road in league play, he completed a magical conference tournament run of 4–0 on the road to claim the crown.

Carmody would coach three more seasons at Holy Cross before ultimately retiring after the 2018–2019 season.

Head coaching record

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Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Princeton Tigers (Ivy League) (1996–2000)
1996–97 Princeton 24–4 14–0 1st NCAA Division I First Round
1997–98 Princeton 27–2 14–0 1st NCAA Division I Second Round
1998–99 Princeton 22–8 11–3 2nd NIT Quarterfinal
1999–00 Princeton 19–11 11–3 2nd NIT First Round
Princeton: 92–25 (.786) 50–6 (.893)
Northwestern Wildcats (Big Ten Conference) (2000–2013)
2000–01 Northwestern 11–19 3–13 11th
2001–02 Northwestern 16–13 7–9 7th
2002–03 Northwestern 12–17 3–13 10th
2003–04 Northwestern 14–15 8–8 T–5th
2004–05 Northwestern 15–16 6–10 8th
2005–06 Northwestern 14–15 6–10 T–8th
2006–07 Northwestern 13–18 2–14 T–10th
2007–08 Northwestern 8–22 1–17 11th
2008–09 Northwestern 17–14 8–10 9th NIT First Round
2009–10 Northwestern 20–14 7–11 7th NIT First Round
2010–11 Northwestern 20–14 7–11 8th NIT Quarterfinal
2011–12 Northwestern 19–14 8–10 7th NIT Second Round
2012–13 Northwestern 13–19 4–14 11th
Northwestern: 192–210 (.478) 70–150 (.318)
Holy Cross Crusaders (Patriot League) (2015–2019)
2015–16 Holy Cross 15–20 5–13 9th NCAA Division I First Round
2016–17 Holy Cross 15–17 9–9 5th
2017–18 Holy Cross 12–19 8–10 6th
2018–19 Holy Cross 16–17 6–12 10th
Holy Cross: 58–73 (.443) 28–44 (.389)
Total: 342–308 (.526)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

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  1. ^ "Holy Cross Names Bill Carmody Head Men's Basketball Coach"
  2. ^ Bill Carmody Archived November 20, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, CSTV. Accessed 2007-12-03. "A native of Spring Lake, N.J., Carmody joined the Princeton staff as an assistant coach in 1982."
  3. ^ "Coach Bill Carmody follows a Legend", Princeton University Sports. 1996-12-25. Accessed 2007-12-03. "Bill Carmody is the fifth of 11 children born to a Cranford and Spring Lake, New Jersey, family. He played basketball at St. Rose High School in Belmar, and was good enough to attract the interest of a number of college coaches, including Carril."
  4. ^ Princeton Athletic Communications. "1965 NCAA Final Four Team". Princeton University. Retrieved 2010-03-24.
  5. ^ Pete Thamel (2008-11-08). "He Helped Elect a President; Now Comes a Harder Job". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-11-09. (subscription required)
  6. ^ "Northwestern tops Minnesota for first win vs. ranked team since '06". ESPN. 2009-01-18. Archived from the original on November 19, 2017. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
  7. ^ "Wildcats end Spartans' 28-game home-court winning streak". ESPN. 2009-01-21. Archived from the original on November 14, 2016. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
  8. ^ "2010 NCAA Men's Basketball Rankings – Week 8 (Dec. 28)". ESPN. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
  9. ^ Katz, Andy (2013-03-16). "Northwestern fires Bill Carmody". ESPN. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
  10. ^ Katz, Andy (2015-03-18). "Bill Carmody to coach Holy Cross". ESPN. Retrieved 2015-07-09.
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