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| Carl Ramsey spent the final nine seasons of his 40-year career as the head women's basketball coach at theUniversity of the Ozarks. University of the Ozarks athletics photo |
A local coaching icon, University of the Ozarks head women's basketball coach Carl Ramsey has announced his retirement after coaching nearly 40 years in the area. Ramsey has spent his entire career in the coaching profession, including the past nine seasons at Ozarks.
"It is difficult to put into words the positive impact he has had on the countless lives of young people during his career," said athletics director Jimmy Clark. "He has always been a first class coach. He truly cared about the success of his athletes on and off the court. The entire Ramsey family has been a tremendous blessing to this university. He and Kathy have been great ambassadors for the school. They will be missed and we wish them the best in retirement."
The Eagles were 89-136 (.396) under Ramsey.
Kourtni Williams, who served as an assistant coach from 2014-17, was introduced as head coach.
"I am very excited to have one of Coach Ramsey's former assistants take over the program," said Clark. "She is no doubt a rising coach. She is highly thought of as a person and a recruiter within the coaching circles. Her working within our admission office the last year will be a great benefit. She has a great basketball background in that she was an All-America player at the NAIA level and coached at the NCAA Division III level. Her roots are in Northwest Arkansas, a prime recruiting area for Ozarks."
"The timing was right to make the decision," said Ramsey. "No matter when I left it would be difficult. It was tough to leave the players and team. I don't remember individual games, but I'll always remember the individuals."
"I love the university," he said. "It gave me my education and it gave me a chance to do what I love all these years. I met Kathy there and my kids attended Ozarks. I am thankful for the support of Kathy, Keaton and Kelsey all these years."
Ramsey turned a struggling program into a contender in just his second year at Ozarks, leading the team to the playoffs and posting the program's first winning record in nearly a decade. He was voted the American Southwest Conference East Division Coach of the Year following that season. During his tenure at Ozarks, he coached 18 all-conference players and 46 members of the American Southwest Conference All-Academic Team. He led the Eagles to the conference tournament four times during his tenure.
"He worked tirelessly at Ozarks and left the program in better shape than he found it," said Clark. "He has had a celebrated career. We appreciate his service. We wish him the best in the next chapter of his life."
A graduate of Ozarks, Ramsey spent 29 years at Lamar High School prior to Ozarks. He won a combined 730 games at Ozarks and Lamar High School. He will finish out the academic year at Ozarks.
A native of Fayetteville, Williams was an All-America player at Mid-America Christian (Okla.) in 2011-2012. That season, she led the conference in scoring (17.2) and ranked third in rebounding (8.2). Williams was a member of the Daktronics NAIA Academic Team. She was an All-State player at Fayetteville High School.
She received her bachelor's degree in marketing from Mid-America Christian University in 2013. She is pursuing her master's degree in sport administration.