Ohio State assistant coach Carrie Banks. Credit: USF Athletics

New Ohio State assistant coach Carrie Banks. Credit: USF Athletics

Coach Kevin McGuff and the Ohio State women’s basketball team added Carrie Banks as an assistant coach, the team announced on Tuesday. Banks joins her second Big Ten team after being an assistant coach at Northwestern for the past three seasons.

In a press release, McGuff praised Banks’ ability to recruit and add character athletes to the program. He said that he is excited to bring Banks to the OSU family.

“Her work ethic and passion for helping young athletes develop will be a great fit as we continue to move our program forward,” McGuff said.

Despite ranking third in the country averaging 86.0 points per game as a team, the Buckeyes ranked 331 out of 344 in team defense allowing an average of 74.6 points per game. Banks was the addition OSU needed to make as one of the preseason favorites to win the national championship. Under Banks’ direction, Northwestern’s defense allowed 70.0 points per game last season.

At Northwestern, Banks helped coach point guard Ashley Deary to a Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year award in 2015-16, setting a school-record 141 steals. With two-time All-American junior Kelsey Mitchell at the point for the Buckeyes, Banks could develop Mitchell into a defender that matches her skill on offense.

In 2014-15, Northwestern earned its first NCAA tournament appearance in 18 years with Banks on the sideline.

She served as an assistant coach at University of Detroit Mercy from 2007-2009 for two seasons and at University of South Florida for three seasons from 2010-2013.

Banks has strong roots in Ohio where she was a junior varsity coach at local high school Dublin Jerome from 2004-2006. She also pursued a master’s degree in journalism at Kent State University and worked for the Big Ten Network in the past.

Banks will make her debut beside coach McGuff on Nov. 14 in the Schottenstein Center against South Carolina.