Indiana Hires Thomas Carr as Assistant Coach, Bringing Louisville Success to Bloomington

Thomas Carr arrives in Bloomington carrying a résumé built almost entirely around one skill: turning guards into all-conference players. Indiana officially announced his addition to Darian DeVries' coaching staff on March 27, and for Indiana high-school prospects evaluating whether to stay home or look elsewhere, the hire offers a concrete answer to a pointed question: who at IU will develop my game?

The most direct evidence sits in Carr's two seasons at Louisville. Working under Pat Kelsey with the Cardinals, he was part of staffs that went 51-19, made back-to-back NCAA Tournaments in 2025 and 2026, and produced All-ACC First Team selection Chucky Hepburn, Second Team honorees Ryan Conwell and Terrence Edwards, and ACC All-Rookie guard Mikel Brown Jr. That four-player list signals a consistent development environment for perimeter players, not a single breakout season. Carr was twice named to Silver Waves Media's 100 Most Impactful High Major Assistants list, a distinction that reflects his growing reputation inside the coaching profession.

Before Louisville, Carr spent two seasons at College of Charleston under Kelsey, where the Cougars posted a 58-12 record, won two CAA regular-season titles, and captured two CAA Tournament championships. He mentored All-CAA First Team selections Ante Brzovic and Dalton Bolon during that run, further extending his track record of elevating individual players in winning environments.

The through-line in Carr's coaching career is backcourt work. At UNC Wilmington, where he served five combined seasons on Kevin Keatts' staffs across Wilmington and NC State, Carr specifically coached the Seahawks' backcourt and produced six all-conference honorees over three seasons, contributing to back-to-back NCAA trips in 2016 and 2017. NC State went 45-24 in his two seasons there, with a 2018 Tournament berth. His coaching roots extend further: a head-coaching stint at George Washington High School in Danville, Virginia, where he went 25-3, and a stint as Athletics Director at Word of God Christian Academy in Raleigh before his Charleston hire. He also served as Director of Team Loaded NC, one of the premier programs on the adidas 3SSB grassroots circuit, giving him recruiting relationships that span well beyond any single conference footprint.

For in-state prospects weighing IU against out-of-state options, Carr's background answers a specific objection that often sends Indiana guards elsewhere: the belief that development resources at elite programs require leaving the state. Carr's Louisville and Charleston tenures show a measurable pattern of guards improving their conference standing year over year. His fluency in AAU circles, built through Team Loaded NC, also means Carr arrives with grassroots credibility that can shorten the trust-building phase with prospects and their families.

Carr joins a newly constructed DeVries staff that includes assistants Drew Adams, Rod Clark, Kenny Johnson, and Nick Norton for the 2026-27 season. As a player, Carr was a two-year captain at Pfeiffer University and finished second nationally in 3-pointers made, a detail that underscores the shooting and perimeter emphasis he brings to every program he joins. Indiana high-school coaches tracking where DeVries is allocating his staff resources now have a clear answer on the developmental end: the Hoosiers are building specifically around the guard and wing positions that decide most recruiting battles in the state.