NDSU Women's Basketball
Head Coach
Carolyn DeHoff
Head Coach
Carolyn DeHoff enters her fourth season as head women's basketball coach at North Dakota State University with more than the usual head coaching experiences in her back pocket. She has compiled a 45-42 record overall including a 32-22 ledger in The Summit League.
NDSU finished the 2011 season 13-16 overall with a 9-9 record in The Summit League, good for fifth place.Her first season saw the roster whittled down to six scholarship players and two walk-ons; NDSU stayed focused and put together a 16-13 record overall, including a 12-6 mark in The Summit League and third place finish.
With eight returning letterwinners including three starters and a top-notch recruiting class, DeHoff and the coaching staff are looking forward to the 2010-11 season.
"The attitude of our coaches and players is one of excitement this season. The expectations have been clearly defined and this year we know the foundation in which we’re going to draw from," said DeHoff.
"The returners have had experience with us and one another and that experience can be a teaching tool for our new student-athletes."
DeHoff was introduced as North Dakota State University’s ninth head women’s basketball coach in the program’s 46-year history at a press conference in April 2008.
“I’ve figured out that I’m an opportunist,” DeHoff said. “The three programs that I’ve been in, and now this one ... was all about opportunity.”
DeHoff replaced Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame coach Amy Ruley, who resigned in March 2008 to accept an associate athletic director for development position at North Dakota State.
“We’re going to talk about a standard of excellence here. It’s not going to be good enough just to be 19-11,” DeHoff said. “A standard of excellence is going to be: ‘You’re going to win 20-plus games, and you’re going to cut down those nets and you’re going to make those NCAA tournament appearances.’"
DeHoff completed her first season as associate head coach in 2007-08 and fifth overall on Elaine Elliott’s Utah staff. The Utes finished 27-5 overall and won the Mountain West Conference regular season championship with a 16-0 record. Utah lost in the first round of the 2008 NCAA tournament.
Her duties at Utah included coordinating recruiting efforts, point guard development, organization and planning of the schedule, coordination of academic affairs and directing summer camps.
During her stay in Salt Lake City, the Utes won 123 games, three regular season conference championships and one MWC tournament title. Utah made three trips to the NCAA tournament including an Elite Eight berth in 2006 and a WNIT appearance in 2007. The Utes also had a pair of WNBA first round draft picks, along with second round pick in this year’s draft.
Her 18-year coaching resume includes a five-year stop at Weber State. The Wildcats went from a sub-.500 program to a back-to-back NCAA tournament participant. Weber State won consecutive Big Sky titles and posted back-to-back 20 win seasons.
Prior to Weber State, DeHoff was the top assistant at Wyoming for seven seasons and also was an assistant coach at Coronado High School in Scottsdale, Ariz.
A standout high school player at Cheyenne (Wyo.) East, DeHoff was a Street & Smith’s All-America her senior year. She played at Arizona State University from 1987-90, where she was a captain.
A native of Cheyenne, DeHoff graduated from Arizona State in 1991 with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science and physical education. She was inducted into her high school athletic hall of fame during the fall of 2008.
