Following up on something that I first reported early this morning (D3 DIRT)…

The coaching change at D3 Anderson University (IN) is now official – Owen Handy has resigned, and Carter Collins has been named as the interim head coach. Both press releases from the school are below:

The Anderson University athletics department announced on Monday that men’s basketball head coach Owen Handy will not return for the 2022-23 season.

“Coach Owen Handy has served Anderson University tirelessly over the past 10 seasons as the head men’s basketball coach,” Marcie Taylor said. “He has positively impacted countless students with his leadership and dedication to mentoring student-athletes of the men’s basketball program on the court, off the court and in their academic commitments.  Coach Handy has built a consistently competitive program and departs with it on a solid foundation for the next coach.  AU is grateful for his leadership and the positive impact he’s had as a member of the campus community.”

During his 10 seasons at Anderson, Handy has compiled a 124-123 record and seven Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) Tournament appearances. The Ravens have qualified for the HCAC Tournament in each of the last six seasons. During Handy’s tenure, Anderson has totaled seven first-team all-conference selections and 19 total all-HCAC selections. Handy mentored Maurice Knight, who was an HCAC MVP, two-time HCAC Defensive Player of the Year and a consensus all-region recipient. He has also coached the full careers of Anderson’s top four career scorers in the Anderson D-III Era.

“There are a lot of elements that have gone into this decision, but the short version is that it was just time – both for me to move on and for the program to have a new leader,” Owen Handy said. “I feel a tremendous sense of gratitude to the many people who have faithfully supported our program, friends on the opposing bench, assistant coaches, and most especially the players who chose to trust me as their coach.”

Carter Collins, who has served as an Anderson assistant men’s basketball coach for the last five years, has been named the interim head men’s basketball coach for the 2022-23 season. A national search for the head men’s basketball coach position will begin following the 2022-23 season.

“I want to thank Coach Handy both for everything that he has done for our program, and also for me, personally,” Carter Collins said. “The goal of a coach in any program is to leave the program in a better place than you found it, and there is absolutely no doubt that Coach Handy accomplished this many times over. Coach Handy has also been a fantastic coach for me to work under, and I have learned a ton from him. I wish him the best of luck moving forward, and look forward to keeping in touch with him long into the future.”

The Anderson University athletic department and Athletic Director Marcie Taylor have named Carter Collins the interim head men’s basketball coach on Monday. Collins will serve in the interim head men’s basketball coach role for the full 2022-23 season.

“Coach Collins’s preparation within the AU men’s basketball program as an assistant for the past five seasons, his familiarity with the current men’s basketball student-athletes and the recruitment and educational processes at AU make him the perfect leader for this time of transition,” Marcie Taylor said. “Coach Collins’s leadership will continue the competitive tradition built under Coach Handy’s guidance.”

Collins has served as an Anderson men’s basketball assistant coach for the last five years. During that time, the Ravens went 64-56 and made the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) Tournament in each of the five seasons.

Collins also took the reins Anderson head men’s golf coach during the 2021-22 season. His first recruiting class consisted of eight newcomers, bringing the program’s roster to its largest size in more than a decade.

“I could not be more excited to take the reins of the Men’s Basketball program here at AU,” Carter Collins said. “After having spent five years as an assistant coach in the program, I have seen first-hand the quality young men that have passed through the program and left with degrees, and I believe that I have a locker room full of men currently on our roster that will be added to that list in the coming years. I am looking forward to continuing our effort to consistently compete for conference championships, and I can’t wait to get started.”

Collins spent the three years prior to AU as a student assistant coach at Hope, assisting with both the varsity and junior varsity teams. During his four years at Hope, the Dutchmen won three conference championships, and participated in the NCAA Tournament in those three seasons, including a run to the Sweet Sixteen in 2017.

Prior to coaching, Collins spent his freshman year at Hope playing on the junior varsity team, continuing a playing career that began in Fowlerville High School in Fowlerville, Mich., where he was an all-conference and all-county selection and two-time captain for the Gladiators. Collins also competed in golf during his prep career at Fowlerville.

Collins earned a Master’s of Business Administration degree at Anderson. He received a bachelor’s degree with a double major in Psychology and Communication at Hope College.