July 11, 2008

Los Angeles, CA (July 11) -- Head Coach Bill Bayno has filled the final spot of his staff as he announced the hiring of Gabe Carter as the Director of Basketball Operations for the Loyola Marymount men's basketball program. Carter is the fourth and final staff member hired by Bayno since he took over the program in April.

Carter earned his Bachelor's of Science in Physical Education/Sports Management at Arkansas State University (Jonesboro, Ark.) in 2004 and then earned a Master's of Arts in Health and Human Performance/Sports Administration at Northwestern State University (Natchitoches, La.) in 2006. In terms of basketball, his career was shaped by both of these universities.

He served as a student manager at Arkansas State from 2001 to 2003, helping earn an opportunity to be an assistant coach at Buffalo Island Central High School in Monette, AR. He was part of a program in 2003-04 that went 33-2 overall, 16-0 in conference play, winning the 7-AA North District championship and the NEA Tournament championship. He then used that experience to earn a graduate assistantship for Northwestern State.

In his two seasons at Northwestern State, the program went 47-20 overall and won a pair of regular seasons championships. In 2004-05 the team with 21-12 overall, 13-3 in the Southland Conference and after sharing the regular seasons title, advanced to the conference tournament championship. The following year, 2005-06, they had a season to remember. They went 26-8 overall, 15-1 to win the Southland regular season title. They went on to win the conference tournament and earned the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. As a 13-seed they earned an upset win over fourth-seed Iowa to advance to the second round.

Following his time in Louisiana, Carter coached one season at Olney Central Community College (Olney, IL) in 2006-07 and then one season at Ouachita Baptist University (Arkadelphia, Ark.) in 2007-08. As an assistant at the NCAA Division II Ouachita Baptist, the team went 20-10 overall and 11-3 in the Golf South Conference, winning the Western Division. They went on to advance to the NCAA tournament second round.

In addition to his time as an assistant coach, Carter was an instructor within the Health and Human Performance Departments at both Northwestern State and OBU and has also served as a Basketball Operations Coordinator for Double Pump, Inc.

Carter is a native of Caddo Gap, Ark., where he played four years of basketball and graduated from Caddo Hills High School.

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