Alex Carlson begins his sixth season as Southern Oregon University’s head women’s basketball coach in 2020-21, having already presided over some of the most successful campaigns ever put together by the Raiders.
Ten years after he stopped beating up SOU as a player for Oregon Tech, Carlson was named the 13th coach in women’s program history on May 21, 2015. Since then he’s led the Raiders to a 124-34 record, two Cascade Collegiate Conference regular-season championships, a CCC tournament title, four appearances appearances in the NAIA Division II National Tournament and their first-ever appearance in the national championship game.
Carlson was recognized as the CCC Coach of the Year after a 2015-16 season in which he led the Raiders to the best season in team history: a 33-2 record, a CCC record of 19-1, an unbeaten run through the conference tournament in which the Raiders defeated their opponents by an average of 35 points, and a thrilling ride through the national tournament that concluded with a No. 2 national ranking.
Using pressure defense and a well-executed offense, Carlson’s first SOU team ranked first nationally in scoring margin (27.1 points), second in points per game (86.2), second in steals per game (14.5), third in turnover margin (7.1), fifth in assists per game (18.5), sixth in rebounds per game (44.9) and sixth in field-goal percentage (44.9). The Raiders, who hadn’t advanced past the second round of the national tournament since 1997, breezed through the first two rounds and got battled through the next two despite an injury to the CCC player of the year, Ashley Clausen.
The formula was the same in 2016-17, when the Raiders went 27-5, reeled off a school-record win streak of 21 games, shared the CCC regular-season title with Eastern Oregon, and produced another conference player of the year in Autumn Durand. SOU was No. 12 in the final NAIA Div. II coaches’ poll after a first-round loss to Northwestern (Iowa) in the national tournament, but finished No. 2 in the NAIA in turnover margin (plus-10.8), third in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.5-to-1), fifth in assists (18.8) and steals (14.6), and sixth in points (83.6) and scoring margin (plus-20.6).
The Raiders were 10th in the final poll of 2017-18, when they went 28-5 and advanced to the Round of 16, and turned in another 20-win season in 2019-20 and qualified for the national tournament with a CCC Tournament semifinal upset at 25th-ranked Eastern Oregon.
Carlson's teams have produced five NAIA All-Americans in all.
Carlson was the associate head women's basketball coach at University of Alaska Anchorage prior to arriving in Ashland. The 34-year-old is a native of Culver, Ore., and played collegiately as a forward at Oregon Tech from 2001-05, helping the Owls win an NAIA title in 2004. He still ranks third in rebounds and 10th in points on the school's career lists.
Carlson has gained experience at a wide range of levels, first for two seasons as the head girls coach at Culver High after earning a bachelor's degree in marketing from Oregon Tech. He then served for two seasons as a men's basketball student assistant at Boise State, where he earned another bachelor's degree in general education.
Following three seasons at Pacific University in Forest Grove – where he was the head men's basketball assistant for the duration of his time and additionally the head women's assistant for his last year – he arrived at Alaska Anchorage in 2013. He was the program's lead assistant and recruiting coordinator the first year, helping UAA to a 19-9 record, and before last season was elevated to associate head coach. The Seawolves went 29-2, won the Great Northwest Athletic Conference title and held the No. 1 ranking at the NCAA Division II level the last four weeks of the season.
Carlson and his wife, Courtney (also an Oregon Tech alum), have two sons: Jakob and Michael.