Carrie Banks is in her fifth season at the helm of the Mavericks basketball program.
Hired as the Omaha women's basketball coach in April 2020, the Delaware, Ohio native has led the Mavericks to three Summit League Tournaments, including two championship game appearances.
She was given a contract extension following the 2023-2024 campaign.
The Mavericks have earned the reputation of a dangerous post-season team under Banks. In the 2022-23 Summit League Tournament, No. 6 seed Omaha stunned No. 3 North Dakota, 84-81. The Mavericks then punched their ticket to the Summit League final after their 69-60 win over Kansas City. The tournament run came to an end aas they fell 93-51 to the South Dakota State Jackrabbits.
The previous year the Mavericks came up just short in the 2020-21 Summit League Tournament. With a 52-40 win over the heavily favored Jackrabbits the Mavericks became the first No. 8 seed to upset a No. 1 seed in the opening round of action. The Mavericks used a 69-55 win over No. 5 Western Illinois to advance to the championship game before falling 66-43 to second-seeded South Dakota in the final.
In four seasons, the Mavericks are 37-72 under Banks, 18-45 in regular season league play. In three Summit League Tournament appearances, her Mavericks are 5-3. Her winningest season came in 2022-23 when Omaha was 15-17 overall, 8-10 in the Summit League followed by the tournament championship appearance. In 2023-24, the Mavericks finished 8-23, 3-13 in league play.
Banks came to Omaha from Ohio State where she was an assistant coach and the recruiting coordinator for four seasons from 2016-2020. She joined the staff at Ohio State in 2016 and on the court worked primarily with the post players.
As the recruiting coordinator, Banks landed a top-five recruiting class in 2019. Those seven players helped the Buckeyes to a 22-11 record and an 11-7 conference mark in her last season in Columbus. OSU finished as runner-up in the Big Ten championship to top-seeded Maryland.
The Buckeyes earned 91 wins during Banks’ tenure as an assistant coach, including Big Ten regular season championships in 2017 and 2018 and the Big Ten tournament crown in 2018.
Prior to Ohio State, Banks was on staff at Northwestern University from 2010-2013, helping the Wildcats to one NCAA Tournament berth and two WNIT appearances.
Banks graduated from the University of Detroit Mercy in 2000 with a degree in communications. She was a four-year letter winner for the Titans before playing professionally in Portugal for two seasons.
Banks went on to coach girls’ AAU basketball in Ohio for four seasons and served as the junior varsity head girls’ basketball coach at Dublin Jerome High School from 2004-06. She also worked as a freelance reporter/analyst for the Big Ten Network while pursuing her master’s degree in journalism at Kent State University.
Banks began her coaching career at her alma mater from 2008-2010. In 2010, she joined the University of South Florida as an assistant coach.
