Carrie Eighmey introduced as USD's women's basketball coach: 'It's a place that truly feels like home'

May 7—VERMILLION — A day before she was to be introduced as the University of South Dakota women's basketball coach, Carrie Eighmey was waiting at a stoplight and spotted a familiar vehicle.

She noticed the Nebraska license plate and a bumper sticker and came to a realization.

"I was like, that is definitely my parents. They did not tell me they were coming. And they tried to surprise me. But obviously, I saw them ... They should have been warned that Vermillion is not a place that's very conducive to hiding," Eighmey said.

The failed surprise attempt not only served as a funny story for Eighmey to share during her press conference on Tuesday morning inside USD's athletic facility but also gave the small-town Midwest native a dose of comfort in her new home.

After a one-year stint of head coaching at the University of Idaho, the Edgar, Nebraska, native has returned to her regional footprint to take over the USD women's basketball program.

"It's never your plan to be somewhere for one year," Eighmey said. "And I didn't expect for this opportunity to be open just two years after it was open the last time.

"But USD is a place that I've wanted to be for a very long time. It's a dream job for me, having been raised in a small town, a few hours south of here," she added. "It's a place that truly feels like home."

When former USD coach Kayla Karius left the program to take a job at Green Bay on April 23 — several weeks after the end of the season — athletic director Jon Schemmel and company moved quickly to tab the next replacement.

Schemmel was looking for a proven winner who could "consistently outperform resources" and had an appreciation for the school. Eighmey was announced as the coach on April 30.

"There's a lot of great things that come with being the head coach in a small town like this," Schemmel said. "And (we need) someone who is going to really embrace that with open arms and be out in the community. And I have no doubt that Carrie and (her husband) Devin both will represent that very well."

Eighmey knows the Rushmore State, having made several trips to the Corn Palace both as a player and a coach to face Dakota Wesleyan, and has recruited and coached several players from South Dakota.

Most of her head coaching career has been in the Midwest, starting when she was hired at her alma mater, Hastings (Neb.), in 2012. After leading the Broncos to the NAIA national semifinals in 2015, she coached the University of Nebraska at Kearney, an NCAA Division II institution, from 2015 to 2023. In her final three years, the Lopers went to three straight D-II NCAA Tournaments.

After going 15-16 in a rebuilding situation at Idaho, Eighmey said she could not pass up on what Schemmel believes is a "top 50 to 60 job" in the country.

The Coyotes aren't far removed from an NCAA Tournament regional semifinal appearance in 2022 under Dawn Plitzuweit (now at Minnesota after a stop at West Virginia). After regressing to 14-16 in 2022-23, the Coyotes bounced back last season with a 23-13 record, a fourth-place finish in the Summit League and two wins in the women's NIT.

But last season's success would not matter much if the talent wasn't retained, and Eighmey has made a valiant effort to keep the team intact.

Last Friday, eight players announced they were returning to the program, including Grace Larkins, the team's leader in points, rebounds, assists and steals, and other rotation players such as Carley Duffney, Alexi Hempe, Olivia Kieffer and Addison Klosterbuer.

Additionally, Eighmey has received commitments from incoming freshmen Gabby Wilke, Hannah Coons and Viki Matulevicius and transfer Madison Hillman.

"My number one priority was to make sure that I communicated with the current players on the team and re-recruited them to this program," Eighmey said. "And that process had to happen very quickly. Finals were happening that very next week. So I had a very short amount of time to be able to get in the same room with them, and to share the vision, and help them understand that they were important pieces to the puzzle."

Eighmey's arrival comes at a time of heightened national engagement toward women's college basketball. With this passion for the sport already embedded in South Dakota, USD's new coach sees an opportunity to continue building the small-town Coyotes into a big-time winner.

"I think women's basketball is finally kind of earning the respect that it has deserved for a really long time. People are loving the game," Eighmey said. "What's cool is that 'Yotes fans have been loving women's basketball for a lot longer than just the last year or two. So these fans are loyal. They've been here, they've been supporting us for a long time, and I think there's an opportunity to just continue to build that momentum."