PLNU Athletics

Bill Carr enters his fifth season as the leader of the Sea Lions men's basketball program in 2015-16. He became the 13th head coach in the 68-year history of the program on April 11, 2011. 
 
Carr had a tough task as he stepped into the role right when Point Loma had started its transition process from the Golden State Athletic Conference and the NAIA to the Pacific West Conference and NCAA Division II. However, despite these challenges the PLNU men's basketball program has thrived in the four seasons under Carr posting a record of 67-50.
 
The Sea Lions have won 20 or more games with Carr at the helm in three of his four seasons, and made the playoffs three times. Last season, Carr guided the Sea Lions to a record of 21-8 and a No. 5 seed in the PacWest Championships after posting a 13-7 record in league play. PLNU opened the season with five straight wins to climb to No. 22 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches rankings, marking the first time any Sea Lion team had ever been ranked at the NCAA Division II level.
 
In 2014-15, Carr also helped guide Hayden Lescault to a first team All-PacWest selection, marking the first in the history of the men's basketball program, while Marek Klassen earned third team honors. The Sea Lions also finished the year ranked No. 5 nationally in 3-point percentage, with a .419 mark from long range. Sam Okhotin led the way by finishing sixth in the nation with a .475 shooting percentage from behind the arc.
 
In 2013-14, Carr led Point Loma to the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) West Region title and National Championship. The Sea Lions entered the tournament as the No. 4 seed before winning all three games in Winona Lake, Ind., to capture the fourth NCCAA men's basketball championship in the history of the school.
 
In 2011-12, Carr was named GSAC Co-Coach of the Year while two of his players, Rhett Beal and Greg Murray, earned all-conference honors. Beal was later named as an Honorable Mention All-American. The Sea Lions qualified for the NAIA National Championships and notched a 74-44 opening-round win over Texas Wesleyan before falling to top-ranked Shorter.
 
Carr brought over 20 years of coaching experience when he arrived on campus at Point Loma. He came to PLNU from the University of San Diego where he spent four years as associate head coach for the NCAA Division I Toreros. As the lead assistant, Carr was involved with recruiting, scheduling, scouting, practice preparation and in-game decision making.
 
During Carr’s tenure at USD the Toreros won the WCC Tournament title in 2008 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. USD beat the University of Connecticut in the first round for the program’s first ever NCAA Tournament victory.
 
Prior to USD, Carr was at UC San Diego where he spent three years as head coach for the Tritons (2004-07). In his second season at the helm, Carr led UCSD to a 15-14 record. It was the first winning campaign for the Tritons since they moved to the NCAA Division II level in 2000.
 
Carr’s resume also includes two seasons as the associate head coach at Long Beach State, and three years as the head coach at Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama. He accumulated a career mark of 84-23 (.785) at Spring Hill and led the Badgers to two appearances in the NAIA National Tournament, including three "final eight" appearances.
 
In his first season (1999-00) Carr led Spring Hill to a 29-8 mark and a Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC) championship. Carr was named the GCAC Coach of the Year that season and was a finalist for the NAIA National Coach of the Year.
 
Overall, his coaching career mark is now 189-118.
 
As a player, Carr competed for two seasons (1985-87) at the University of San Francisco under coach Jim Brovelli. His first campaign at USF was the "Back to Basketball" group that marked the restart of the program after a three-year hiatus.
 
Carr earned a degree in accounting at USF and later began his coaching career there, spending nine years as an assistant for Brovelli (five years) and Phil Mathews (four years). He helped recruit and mentor ten first team All-WCC performers, including the 1998 and 2000 WCC Freshmen of the Year. USF advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 1998 after winning the West Coast Conference Tournament championship.
 
Bill and his wife, Pam, are the proud parents to three children: Lexi, Madison and Paul. Madison currently attends PLNU. The Carr family resides and attends church in La Costa.