Babcock McGraw: Carlsen moving on up, coaching NIU Huskies
Lisa Carlsen wasn't just coaching when she led her Division II Lewis women's basketball team to an unlikely exhibition win over Northern Illinois in November.
She was also interviewing.
But she didn't know it at the time.
Carlsen and underdog Lewis University, in Romeoville, got a 60-49 win over Northern Illinois in DeKalb; Northern Illinois athletic director Sean Frazier was watching. Very closely.
He liked what he saw from Carlsen, and when it was time for a new coach at NIU, Frazier put her on his short list.
On Tuesday, Carlsen was named the Huskies' head coach, replacing Kathi Bennett, who went 57-93 in five seasons.
"She was auditioning and she did not know she was auditioning," Frazier said at Carlsen's introductory news conference. "It didn't hurt to know coach Carlsen's style or athletes. If I didn't know what Lewis or who Lewis was, I knew it after that (exhibition) game. I can tell you that much.
"The process, the body of work, the things that she's been able to do in her career are extremely impressive. As we went through the process, it was clear that this was going to be a good fit."
Carlsen, a native of Iowa and a former player at Northwest Missouri State, went 148-89 over eight seasons at Lewis. Her teams won two regular season Great Lakes Valley Conference championships and went to four NCAA tournaments, including the Elite Eight in 2015.
Last season, Lewis finished 31-3 and was 3-0 against Division I opponents. Carlsen was named the WBCA Division II coach of the year.
"It was a special season. A ton of firsts happened for Lewis in women's basketball this year," said Carlsen, who also was a head coach at Nebraska-Omaha (2000-2004) and an associate head coach at Winona State (2004-2007). "The style of solid play that has worked for us in the last three or four years is something we can definitely bring to the table here.
"You're going to see an exciting brand of basketball. You know, a team that's going to get up, play really hard, score some points, make some plays in the open court."
Carlsen is also excited to recruit the Chicago area with more weight behind her name.
"The nice thing is, a lot of the (recruiting) familiarity I have, not just with the Chicagoland area but the region, doesn't have to change. Hopefully I can go out and get some of those kids that maybe I wasn't going to be able get at Lewis, but I know who they are," Carlsen said. "I know those names. I know those programs. I know those AAU teams or whatever it is, that I can now continue to go after and I might be able to entice them now to be a Huskie at this level.
"I feel like all the pieces are in place for this program to take the next step: To fight for MAC championships and to (get to) postseason play. And I think everything is right there for the taking."
Early returns:
The WNBA announced on Thursday that Elena Delle Donne leads the Eastern Conference in all-star voting by the fans. Delle Donne, who topped all East players in all-star balloting last year as well, has 10,589 votes with about a week of voting remaining.
Former Notre Dame star Skylar Diggins of Tulsa leads all players with 11,099 votes. Sadly, Diggins won't be able to play in the 2015 All-Star Game after suffering a season-ending knee injury.
Former Chicago Sky forward Candice Dupree, now with the Phoenix Mercury, and former Stevenson High School star Tamika Catchings, a forward with the Indiana Fever, are also among the top vote-getters.
Voting for WNBA all-stars can be done at wnba.com and ends on July 9. The all-star starters will be announced July 14, and the game will be played on July 25 (2:30 p.m., ABC) at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.
pbabcock@dailyherald.com
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