Five months after losing its best women’s basketball player, Santa Clara announced Saturday it’s now lost Bill Carr, who resigned after eight seasons as the school’s women’s basketball coach.
Carr, who guided Santa Clara to one of the best seasons in school history last season, winds up with a 119-125 record with the Broncos. He led the Broncos to three winning seasons, each coming over the last four years, including finishing 25-9 last year’s 25-9 finish season.
However, the Broncos took a big hit in May when two-year sensation and all-West Coast Conference guard Tess Heal from Australia left for Stanford via the transfer portal.
With the new season just a little more than two weeks away, new athletic director Heather Owen, who was hired just five weeks ago from Stanford, named associated head coach Michael Floyd as the interim head coach. Onetime Cal standout Kristin Iwanaga has been elevated to associated head coach after spending seven seasons as one of Carr’s assistants.
“I want to thank Coach Carr for everything that he did for this program during his time as a Bronco,” Owen said in a statement. “The women’s basketball program is set up for continued success moving forward because of the groundwork he laid. I wish Bill and his family nothing but the best in the future.”
Carr also released a statement through the school Saturday, but provided no particular reason for stepping down.
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“After eight incredible years at Santa Clara University, I’ve made the difficult decision to step away from coaching,” Carr said. “It has been an honor to lead this program and to call SCU home. I’m immensely proud of what we’ve accomplished together—on the court and off—and grateful for the relationships I’ve built with our student-athletes, coaching staff, and the Bronco community. Thank you to everyone who has supported us along the way. I’ll always cherish my time here and look forward to watching the continued success of Santa Clara Athletics.”
Santa Clara’s 25 wins last year were the second-most in program history. The Broncos’ win over BYU in the inaugural WBIT opener was the program’s first postseason win since 1992. In addition, the Broncos set program records in 2023-24 with 12 non-conference wins, 11 road wins and seven wins in the month of November.