Antoine Carpenter, right, will replace his former coach and boss, Mac Petty, as Wabash's head basketball coach. Wabash athletics photo

Wabash president Patrick White has appointed Antoine Carpenter as the school’s new head basketball coach. Carpenter replaces Mac Petty, who announced his retirement in February after serving 35 seasons as head coach.

White said Carpenter is a great choice for Wabash: “Antoine Carpenter has shown himself to be an excellent recruiter of student-athletes and the kind of coach who will shape the next generation of Wabash gentlemen. We also value his rising leadership across the campus, especially in the design and implementation of a new program in alumni-student mentoring.” 

Carpenter, a 2000 Wabash graduate, has spent the last four years as an assistant for Petty. “First, I would like to thank Wabash College for this wonderful opportunity to be the next head basketball coach,” Carpenter said. “After being a student-athlete and assistant coach under coach Mac Petty, it is an honor and privilege to continue the tradition he has established.”

Carpenter was an art major and history minor at Wabash. As a two-year starting guard and four-year member of the Little Giant team, he tallied 161 total assists, including 105 as a senior. He was part of two Indiana Collegiate Athletic Conference championship teams and played in the Division III NCAA Tournament as a sophomore and junior. Carpenter will receive his master’s degree in Science in Leadership from Walden University in August 2011. 

“I am grateful to Wabash Director of Athletics Tom Bambrey and the search committee for their thorough, professional, and enthusiastic work,” said dean of students Mike Raters. “Coach Carpenter emerged from a deep and talented national pool. While obviously promoted from within, the process and the committee’s unanimous recommendation validated Coach Carpenter. I am excited about this new chapter in the great history of Wabash College basketball.” 

“The search committee is unanimous in its endorsement of Antoine as the Wabash College basketball head coach,” Bambrey said. “He has an excellent background, is familiar with our system, and of course the college, and has the confidence of our very experienced basketball team.” 

Carpenter spent two seasons as a graduate assistant coach at Franklin shortly after graduating from Wabash. He was hired by Brownsburg High School in 2005, helping the Bulldogs to a 26-20 record over two seasons. In 2007 he returned to Wabash as an assistant coach, working with Petty to produce a 70-37 record over the past four years. The Little Giants finished 20-6 this past season, earning a place in the D3hoops.com Top 25 for most of the season.  

“I’m overjoyed to know that Antoine will be taking over the program,” Petty said. “Having him as an assistant for the past four seasons proved to me what I already knew about him as a player and as a person. He has a very high basketball IQ and has a love and passion for the game and for Wabash College. Antoine has and will continue to be an outstanding recruiter. I am really very proud of him.” 

Carpenter is excited to welcome back a roster filled with players he helped recruit to Wabash. “We have a great group of players returning next season and I look forward to helping them reach all of their goals on and off the basketball court,” Carpenter said. “I expect to maintain a high quality of competitive basketball of which all of our fans can be proud, while continuing to recruit the top student-athletes who have an ambition to succeed athletically, and more importantly, academically."