Chris Carlson
Head Coach
Phone: (208) 769-3347
Email: Chris_Carlson@nic.edu
Office: GYM-129
Chris Carlson enters his eighth season as head coach of the North Idaho College women’s basketball team and is coming off of an incredible national championship season where he was named the National Coach of the Year. This was NIC third consecutive top 10 finish at the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) national championships in Salina, Kansas. It also makes seven straight seasons of more than 20 wins while capturing the Scenic West Athletic Conference (SWAC) tournament championship all three seasons. In addition, the Cardinals had an exceptional year in 2005-2006 when they won the SWAC championship, the first for NIC since 1989.
The past three seasons, Carlson was named NJCAA Association District M Coach of the Year. In 2008-2009 and 2010-2011, he was named the North Idaho Coach of the Year for all college levels. He was also named SWAC Coach of the Year in 2005-2006 and has posted a 174-59 record over the last eight years. In addition, the Cardinals earned Academic All-American team status for five consecutive seasons. In his eight years as a head coach at NIC, Carlson has placed 28 of his players into four-year programs, including 12 that were Division I scholarships.
Prior to coming to NIC, Carlson was an assistant coach for three years (2001-2004) at Eastern Washington University where he helped guide the women’s team to its best record, at that time, since 1988.
After graduating in 1984 from Northeast Missouri State University, where he earned All-Conference honors for his NCAA Division II national qualifying team, Carlson went on to play professional basketball in New Zealand. Carlson began his college coaching career at Eastern Oregon University in 1988 as an assistant coach, working with the men’s and women’s programs. From 1992 to 2000, he was the head women’s coach at Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake, Wash., and was named Eastern Region Coach of the Year in 1999 for the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges. Carlson was an assistant women’s coach at the University of Idaho from 2000 to 2001 before accepting the assistant coaching job at Eastern Washington University.
Carlson coached the Spokane Stars AAU girls basketball team, which placed eighth in the country in 1998. He also started the North Idaho Elite AAU girls basketball program in North Idaho, which has placed as high as fourth in prestigious national tournaments.
Carlson lives in Post Falls with his wife Carey and their three children, 13-year-old Christina, 12-year-old James, and 3-year-old Jordan.
Carey Carlson
Assistant Coach
Phone: (208) 665-2758
Email: cecarlson@nic.edu
Office: GYM
Carey Carlson enters her 18th year of coaching, 16 of which are at the college level. Prior to joining North Idaho College, Carlson coached at Central Washington University, Big Bend Community College, the University of Idaho, and Post Falls High School, where she led the Post Falls Trojans to consecutive 4A state championships. Carlson has also coached for several AAU programs including the North Idaho Elite, which has quickly earned national recognition, and the Spokane Stars.
Carlson is the academic advisor for the women’s basketball team; does advising for the college’s Orientation, Advising, and Registration Sessions; and teaches College Skills courses at NIC.
Carlson played high school basketball at Central Valley High School in Spokane and went on to play college basketball at Big Bend Community College and Central Washington University, where she was an All-Conference selection. She earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and health education from Central Washington University and a master’s degree in education, curriculum, and instruction from the University of Idaho. She has 10 years of high school teaching experience, including five years at Post Falls High School.
“What a blessing it is to coach with Carey and develop our student/athletes to the levels which we have achieved,” said head women’s basketball coach Chris Carlson. “We would not have achieved the success we have without her strengths and abilities that exemplify every team quality we believe in.”