Tracy Carpenter had coached in New Zealand before coming to San
Benito High. He’ll now be coaching in China. In an unexpected turn
of events, the varsity boys’ basketball head coach of the last two
seasons at San Benito High announced his resignation on Friday, and
will be taking over a similar position within the Chinese
Basketball Association.
HOLLISTER
Tracy Carpenter had coached in New Zealand before coming to San Benito High.
He’ll now be coaching in China.
In an unexpected turn of events, the varsity boys’ basketball head coach of the last two seasons at San Benito High announced his resignation on Friday, and will be taking over a similar position within the Chinese Basketball Association.
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Specifically, Carpenter said he’ll help coach both the men’s and women’s under-20 national teams for China. With his official title as technical advisor, the former head coach of the Balers said he’ll be expected to help coach defense as well as do some work within the scouting department for the national teams.
“I didn’t intend to leave. I was looking forward to continue coaching (the Haybalers). But you don’t get opportunities like this too often,” said Carpenter, who notified the team on Friday of his departure.
Carpenter’s job in China will start almost immediately. With his position geared toward preparing the teams for the upcoming world championships, with the men scheduled to compete in Latvia in early July and the women slated to compete later that same month in Chile, Carpenter is scheduled to fly to Beijing on Saturday afternoon to begin his new job.
“It’s a great opportunity,” he added.
Although the position only lasts through August, Carpenter felt his time would have been split between China and the Balers had he kept both positions, with neither team receiving his full commitment. The position in China, meanwhile, could open up additional opportunities down the road.
“It was a tough decision, but I didn’t want to leave the team short,” Carpenter said of the Balers. “I need to be 100 percent committed to it or not.”
Carpenter said he heard of the position just in the last few weeks — it kind of fell on his lap, he said. Although he never initially applied for the position, he said he was contacted about the opening from colleagues.
“We started talking and it happened that way,” he said.
Coaching internationally isn’t anything new to Carpenter. Prior to coming to Hollister, he had recently returned from New Zealand, where he was the head coach of the women’s national team from 2000-03, and the top assistant coach for the team at the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000.
His lengthy resume also included stops at Gavilan College (1992-94), the San Jose Spiders of the National Women’s Basketball League (2005) and the North Harbour Kings of New Zealand’s National Basketball League where he was named national coach of the year in 2000.
Beginning coaching in 1979 with the freshman team at Gilroy High, Carpenter has been coaching basketball every year since.
“But I had always wanted to coach my alma mater and I got a chance and I’m really thankful for the opportunity and proud to have coached them,” said Carpenter, who graduated from San Benito High in 1974. “It was a rewarding and challenging experience.”
Carpenter coached the Balers to a combined 14-10 record in the Tri-County Athletic League and a 29-23 overall mark during the last two seasons with the team.
This past winter, San Benito went 9-3 in the TCAL and finished runner-up to league champ Salinas, eventually falling to Homestead in the quarterfinal round of the Central Coast Section Division I Championships.
“I feel proud with the work that we did,” Carpenter said. “I think we made a lot of progress. There is a lot of talent.”
Last season, the Balers shined on their home court — from the varsity level through the freshmen team — compiling a 42-1 overall record at home, with the program’s only loss coming against Salinas at the varsity level.
Meanwhile, both the junior varsity team and freshmen team won the TCAL last season, with the JVs going 11-1 and the frosh compiling a perfect 12-0 record.
“It bodes well for the future,” Carpenter said. “Whoever gets the job will have a lot of talent.”
More to come
