Benson adds Carter to hoops staff
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman head men’s basketball coach Chuck Benson has announced the hiring of former Lenoir-Rhyne guard and Tusculum assistant coach KT Carter as the newest member of the Carson-Newman men’s basketball coaching staff.
VIDEO: KT Carter Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson has announced the hiring of former Lenoir-Rhyne guard and Tusculum assistant coach KT Carter as the newest member of the Carson-Newman men's basketball coaching staff.
"Carson-Newman's always been a program I've respected from a distance," Carter said. "Playing in the league and coaching in the league, I've known all about this program and coach Chuck Benson for some time. I'm very excited to be here for those reasons."
Carter started his collegiate playing career at Miles Community College where he led the team to a 2012 NJCAA Region IX semi-final appearance. He wrapped up his playing career at South Atlantic Conference member Lenoir-Rhyne from 2013-2015 as the Bears posted a third place finish during his junior campaign.
Since finishing his playing days with the Bears, Carter has had coaching stops at Southern Arkansas, Tusculum and Rogers State.
"I'm thrilled to add KT to the staff," Benson said. "He has a really unique perspective when you consider he played in this league at Lenoir-Rhyne and coached at Tusculum. He comes here and I'm very confident that he will add immediate value to our staff, especially on the recruiting side."
In his two seasons in Greenville, Tenn., Carter assisted with post player development, team scouting, recruiting, practice planning, team travel coordination and academic support. In his second season, he and the Tusculum staff guided Dashaunte Smith to the South Atlantic Conference All-Freshman Team.
During his first season with the Pioneers, Carter helped with the development of All-South Atlantic Conference guard Kendall Patterson who saw a seven-point increase in scoring, while leading the conference in assists. Tusculum recorded 285 three-pointers during the season, which were the second most in school history, including a then SAC and program record 22 treys against Mars Hill in the 2017 home finale.
Carter planned and conducted all guard and post player individual skill sessions and developed the team's strength and conditioning workouts.
Carter served as a graduate assistant coach at NCAA Division II Southern Arkansas during the 2015-2016 season. He helped lead SAU to a 17-13 record which was the program's best campaign since reclassifying to Division II.
He oversaw the development of three All-Conference players, including Great America Conference Freshman of the Year CJ Elkins. The SAU post player development paced the team to lead the GAC in rebounding margin while Muleriders ranked second in the league in field goal percentage defense.
He graduated from Lenoir-Rhyne in 2015 with a degree in business marketing and has a masters of science in kinesiology from kinesiology.
