WOAY – Mike Carey, the winningest head coach in West Virginia women’s basketball history, announced his retirement Wednesday after 21 seasons in Morgantown.
Carey arrived at WVU in 2001 after more than a decade as the head men’s coach at Salem University. Under him, the Mountaineer women won 447 total games, and made 11 NCAA Tournament appearances. WVU won the 2017 Big 12 Tournament and a share of the 2014 Big 12 regular season title. Carey was a three-time conference Coach of the Year: in 2004 & 2010 from the Big East, and in 2014 with the Big 12.
“I want to thank all my current and former players and staff for 21 great years at West Virginia University. This has been a lot of fun, and I am certainly proud of what we were able to build and accomplish,” Carey said in a statement. “I also want to thank the state of West Virginia and our incredible fans. The support and loyalty throughout my tenure at WVU, through both highs and lows, makes me proud to be from this state. I look forward to being WVU women’s basketball’s biggest fan, alongside the fans who supported me all these years. It has been a privilege to lead this program, but I believe this is the right time in my life to turn the program over to someone else.”
“I want to thank Mike for 21 years of dedication to this University. He was willing to take over our program at a difficult time in its history and made it nationally competitive,” Director of Athletics Shane Lyons said.
Carey’s overall record, including the WVU women and Salem men, is 735-341. Lyons says a nationwide search for the next head coach is underway.
