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Mitchell is entering her fourth season with UCSB, as she iscoming off a year when they Gauchos had two players make theall-conference team with Nicole Nestbit and Melissa Zornig beingnamed honorable mentions. Under Mitchell's tutelage, point guardOnome Jemerigbe was named to the conference's all-freshman team,while finishing the year with 67 assists, the eighth-most by aGaucho freshman.
In her second year at the helm, Mitchell again led UCSB to thepostseason with a trip to the WNIT. Overall, she coached the teamto a 16-17 record with an 11-7 mark in Big West play.
She also guided two Gauchos in earning all-conference accolades,as senior Sweets Underwood was named a first-teamer and juniorNicole Nesbit earned honorable mention.
During her first season leading the Gauchos, Carlene Mitchellled UC Santa Barbara on a thrilling run to its 14th Big WestTournament title, resulting in the program's 14th NCAA Tournamentappearance.
For her standout leadership in her first year at the helm,Mitchell earned the distinction of being named one of threefinalists for the Maggie Dixon Rookie Coach of the Year Award,which is presented by the Women's Basketball CoachesAssociation.
Mitchell led the Gauchos to a 17-16 overall record during the2011-12 campaign and an 8-8 mark in Big West Confernece play. Underher tutelage, junior Kirsten Tilleman was named the Big WestTournament's Most Valueable Player and sophomore Melissa Zorniggarnered All-Tournament Team accolades.
Mitchell was hired as UC Santa Barbara's head coach on May 19,2011 after a very successful tenure at Rutgers.
Mitchell, the fifth head coach in program history, is in herfirst head coaching job.
Prior to joining UCSB, Mitchell served 10 years as an assistantcoach at Rutgers, with the final three years spent as the team'sassociate head coach.
Under the tutelage of Hall of Famer C .Vivian Stringer, Mitchellhas helped direct the Scarlet Knights to an NCAA berth in ninestraight seasons and a spot in the NCAA Regional Semifinals in fiveof the past seven seasons. Mitchell, who served as the program'srecruiting coordinator since 2004, consistently landed the toptalent in the nation, including four top-15 recruiting classes andthe nation's top recruiting class in 2006-07.
Prior to Rutgers, Mitchell spent the 2000-01 season as the topassistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Oklahoma StateUniversity. She was responsible for both preseason and off-seasonconditioning, coaching the guards during practices, developing adefensive game plan for each of Oklahoma State's opponents andworking with the program's summer camps.
Prior to her stop in Stillwater, Mitchell coached for two seasonsat Western Illinois University. While in Macomb, Ill.,she helped the Westerwinds make a remarkable turnaround from a 7-19record to an 18-11 mark the following season. Mitchellassisted in the signing of 14 student-athletes to national lettersof intent. Three of those student-athletes were later named to theMid-Continent Conference All-First Team during their respectivecareers.
Mitchell started her coaching career as a graduate assistant atthe University of Missouri-Kansas City in 1997. Herresponsibilities with the Kangaroos included implementing strengthand conditioning programs, creating opponent scouting reports andorganizing all team travel.
Mitchell was the starting point guard as a senior at Kansas StateUniversity during the 1995-96 season. She received a bachelor'sdegree in social science from the school in 1996.
Mitchell also attended Allen County (Kan.) and Trinity Valley(Texas) Community Colleges. She helped lead Trinity to the first oftheir five unprecedented NJCAA National Championships in 1994.Named All-Conference and selected to the NJCAA All-Tournament Team,Mitchell still holds the single season assist record (337) andassists in a game (17) mark in the Lady Cardinals record book. Shewill join the school's Cardinal Hall of Fame in October, a memberof the Class of 2010.
A member of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA),Mitchell has been an invited guest to the Nike Villa 7 CoachesConsortium on four occasions. The consortium was developed to bringtogether university athletic directors and the country's eliteassistant basketball coaches in an effort to prepare coaches forthe next level.
