After leading a short-handed Golden Eagle team to better-than-expected results in 2014-15, Carter Shaw returns for his second season as Cal State L.A.’s head women’s basketball coach. Shaw held together an 11-player roster that battled through injuries and guided the Golden Eagles to the brink of a California Collegiate Athletic Association Championship Tournament bid in his first year with the program.
Shaw directed a young roster that had only two seniors to an 11-15 overall record that included a 10-12 mark in the CCAA. The Golden Eagles were a competitive group and had some signature victories during the season. Cal State L.A. beat NCAA Division II playoff participant Point Loma, 50-36, and posted its first home win over UC San Diego since 2005, 65-63. The Golden Eagles also held a late lead against national runner-up California Baptist in a non-conference game.
Cal State L.A. impressively won five consecutive road games in January in the Golden Eagles’ most successful stretch of the season.
Under Shaw’s direction, the Golden Eagles were known for their hard play and their defense was ranked fourth in the conference, allowing only 63.9 points per game. The Golden Eagles were also 31st in the nation and No. 2 in the conference in field-goal percentage defense after limiting opponents to just 36.5 percent shooting. Cal State L.A. held three opponents under 40 points during the season.
Shaw came to Cal State L.A. in 2014 after achieving great success at several NCAA Division I programs over a 17-year span. Shaw was a part of nine regular-season championships, seven conference tournament championships, and nine NCAA Division I Tournament appearances during his career.
Shaw was most recently at UC Riverside, where he was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for two seasons. As the recruiting coordinator, he was responsible for an incoming class that included a high school McDonald’s All-American nominee, the CIF Division 2A Co-Player of the Year and Bay League’s Most Valuable Player and the Big 8 Conference Most Valuable Player. He was also the position coach for one of UC Riverside’s 1,000-point scorers.
Shaw was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for one season at Colgate University, where he was also an Academic Advisor for several student-athletes, including the team’s highest academic achiever. He was also the position coach for the team’s Most Valuable Player.
Prior to that, he was an assistant coach for two seasons at Ball State. He was the team’s defensive coordinator when the program won a conference championship in 2009 and recorded a first-round NCAA Tournament upset over defending champion Tennessee. The win came in Ball State’s first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance and resulted in Tennessee’s first-ever loss in the opening round of the tourney.
Shaw spent six highly-successful years at UC Santa Barbara, where he was an assistant coach and rapidly progressed to positions of increasing responsibility under the direction of head coach Mark French. By the end of his tenure, Shaw was the recruiting coordinator for the Gauchos. UC Santa Barbara won five conference titles in six years and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament in 2004. The Gauchos won 70 percent of their games and 86 percent of their conference contests while Shaw was there.
He was the position coach for a pair of players who were ultimately drafted in the WNBA, one in the first round in 2005 and the other in the second round in 2004. He also directed a highly-successful summer camp program and was involved in a variety of community service, booster and fundraising functions.
Shaw also spent two seasons with a top-25 program at Colorado State as an assistant coach. The program participated in two NCAA Tournaments and had a 49-14 record over two seasons.
He spent three seasons coaching at his alma mater, the University of Utah, where the program won two conference titles and made two NCAA Tournament appearances in that span. He assisted in all phases of the top-25 program. Utah was 65-21 in the three seasons.
Shaw got his introduction to collegiate coaching as a men’s basketball volunteer for former Utah coach Rick Majerus.
Shaw was also an advance scout for the Atlanta Dream and Washington Mystics of the WNBA and assisted in open tryouts during the inaugural WNBA season. He also served as a volunteer assistant coach for the Utah Starzz.
He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise and Sport Science at the University of Utah.
Shaw is married to the former Rebecca Mouw and they welcomed a son, Micah, in 2012.
