Iowa State women’s basketball head coach Bill Fennelly has named Caroline McCombs as associate head coach, the program announced in a press release on Monday.
“I am very excited to add Caroline McCombs to our staff,” Fennelly said in the release. “I have known Caroline for years and have the utmost respect for what she has done throughout her career. She is known as one of the hardest workers in the profession and one of the best recruiters in the game. I have always been impressed with how Caroline is able to develop relationships with players and those she works with on a daily basis. This is a major addition to Cyclone women’s basketball.”
McCombs was Auburn’s assistant coach during the 2025-26 season and spent four seasons as the head coach at George Washington, where she led her teams to 55 wins, rebuilding a program that had not had a winning season in the three seasons before her arrival, according to the release.
She helped produce historic numbers for Mayowa Taiwo, who finished with 1,037 career rebounds, the third-most in program history for a single player, according to the release.
McCombs’ first two seasons at GW resulted in a run to the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Championship. During her first year, McCombs helped lead a team that ranked first in program history in points allowed in a season (55.2) and upset No. 5 La Salle to reach the quarterfinals of the 2022 A-10 tournament.
Her team set an all-time school record for made 3-pointers in a single season in 2022-23 and saw three players decorated with All-Conference honors, including first-year Nya Robertson, a former top-50 recruit, who was named the league’s Sixth Woman of the Year.
Before GW, McCombs spent seven years as the head coach at Stony Brook, where she led the Seawolves to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2021. She won 130 games in seven years at Stony Brook, the release said. In 2021, she led the Seawolves to a 15-6 mark, winning the America East Tournament Championship and earning a No. 14 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Before becoming a head coach, McCombs gained a wealth of experience as an assistant coach for 15 years at the Division I level. She assisted four different programs and appeared in five NCAA tournaments, including two Sweet 16 appearances. She has also developed a pair of AP All-Americans and three WNBA players, according to the release.
McCombs spent two years as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Auburn, assisting the Tigers to 19 wins in each of her two seasons, including a WNIT quarterfinal appearance in 2013 and a third-round showing in 2014.
McCombs came to Auburn the first time from Northwestern, where she was an assistant under former GW head coach and Hall of Famer Joe McKeown from 2010-12. Under her tutelage, Amy Jaeschke was an AP All-American and made history as the program’s first WNBA draft pick. McCombs helped lead the team to a WNIT berth in her first season and assisted in bringing in a top-25 recruiting class.
She also spent five seasons as an assistant at Pittsburgh from 2005-10, aiding the program to five straight postseason appearances that included three NCAA Tournaments and a pair of Sweet 16 berths, the release said. With the Panthers, she coached Shavonte Zellous, who earned All-America honors and was a 2009 WNBA Draft pick.
McCombs started her coaching career as an assistant coach at Valparaiso in 1999, holding the title for five years before being elevated to associate head coach in 2004-05. The Crusaders won two conference championships and advanced to consecutive NCAA Tournaments under her watch. She also coached Marlous Nieuwveen, who became the first player in school and conference history to reach the WNBA.
McCombs, a native of Medina, Ohio, graduated from Youngstown State in 1998 with a degree in dietetics. While attending Youngstown State, McCombs earned an impressive list of accomplishments for the Penguins’ basketball team, including places on the Mid-Continent Conference Second Team in 1996 and 1998, and on the Mid-Continent All-Tournament Team three consecutive years from 1996-98.
After McCombs graduated from Youngstown State, she played European professional women’s basketball, competing in the Czech Basketball Federation and the European Cup in 1998, according to the release. She continued her education, receiving her master’s degree from Valparaiso in 2001.
In April 2011, McCombs was inducted into the Medina County Sports Hall of Fame in Ohio. It was an honor she was familiar with, having been enshrined in the Youngstown State Athletics Hall of Fame in October 2008.
The Iowa State sports information department contributed this report.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Caroline McCombs named Iowa State women’s basketball associate head coach
Reporting by Special to the Register, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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