University of Tennessee at Martin head men’s basketball coach Anthony Stewart has announced Zach Carpenter as a new assistant coach for the Skyhawk program.
Carpenter comes to UT Martin from Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, Iowa, where he had worked for head coach Hank Plona since July. Carpenter brings a decade worth of coaching experience to the Skyhawks – helping build and continue rich hardwood traditions at John A. Logan College, Wabash Valley College and Louisburg College since 2008.
“We are very fortunate to have Zach join the Skyhawk family,” Stewart said. “His coaching career has been cemented at several highly successful junior college programs. He is a Tennessee native who has spent time in the Ohio Valley Conference. He fits in well with the long-term vision and expectations we have for our program.”
During his time at John A. Logan, Carpenter served as an assistant under head coach Kyle Smithpeters – helping the Volunteers to 132-60 record over six seasons. Carpenter helped John A. Logan post four consecutive 20-plus win seasons, including a 2016-17 campaign where the Volunteers swept the Great Rivers Athletic Conference and Region 24 regular season championships. Carpenter was also an integral part of a John A. Logan program that advanced to the NJCAA Division-I national tournament after going 27-7 in 2014-15.
In 2011-12, Carpenter served as interim head coach at John A. Logan for six weeks, coinciding with the retirement of previous head coach Mark Imhoff. He helped lead the Volunteers to a 16-12 record in his debut season at the junior college program located in Carterville, Ill.
Carpenter spent a pair of seasons working for legendary Hall of Fame head coach Dan Sparks at Wabash Valley, which is located in Mount Carmel, Ill. In Carpenter’s two seasons as an assistant, the Warriors combined for a 58-11 record (including a 26-6 slate in league play). Wabash Valley captured the GRAC regular season title in 2010-11 and went on to play in the NJCAA Division-I national tournament as Carpenter helped mentor a dozen student-athletes who furthered their careers at four-year institutions.
Prior to his stint at WVC, Carpenter was an assistant coach for the 2008-09 season at Louisburg College in Louisburg, NC. He helped the Hurricanes go 21-8 and helped pave the way for a Hurricane program that advanced to the NJCAA Division-II national championship game this past spring.
Carpenter’s first job in collegiate athletics was as a director of basketball operations at Tennessee Tech University. He spent two years (2006-08) filling that role for head coach Mike Sutton as the Golden Eagles went 19-13 overall with a 13-7 OVC record in 2006-07, including an eight-game winning streak in league play.
Following a stellar prep career at Bradley Central High School, Carpenter was a standout performer for head coach Lennie Acuff at the University of Alabama at Huntsville. A three-time All-Gulf South Conference honoree, Carpenter still ranks fifth in Charger history in all-time points (1,548) and career rebounds (607) while leading UAH to 70 victories in four seasons. He helped the Chargers claim the GSC championship and make an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2002-03 and generated team-highs of 19.7 points and 6.3 rebounds as a senior – garnering 2003-04 GSC Player of the Year accolades.
Carpenter followed that by playing one year of professional basketball in Denmark before starting his collegiate basketball administration career at Tennessee Tech.
A Cleveland, Tenn. native, Carpenter graduated from Lee University in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in computer information systems. He earned his Master’s degree in instructional leadership from Tennessee Tech in 2008.
