Assistant Men's Basketball Coach for the ECC Panthers, High School Basketball Coach, Non-profit Founder/Director, Professional Basketball Player, Record Holder. These are all titles you will find on Coach Brent Carmichael's diverse resume, and he's about to add another, albeit familiar, title: Head Boys' Basketball Coach for the Waterloo East Trojans.
This move comes after spending two seasons with the ECC Men's basketball program as an Assistant Coach. These two seasons were filled with ups and downs for the Panther Men. The 2019-20 season, which ultimately finished with an overall record of 14-17, came to an abrupt end due to the COVID19 Pandemic.
"I think the most memorable thing that happened since I've been at Ellsworth was something I wasn't even around to be able to experience. I had gotten the call for my kidney transplant, and all the athletic programs, not just basketball, got shirts and wore them in honor of me. They said, 'Organ donors are real heroes.' One of the other coaches sent me a picture of the team when I was recovering. It was really special and meant a lot."
Before becoming a part of the Panther Nation, Carmichael boasts more than 16 years of coaching high school boys' basketball in Texas, Iowa, and Illinois. He even began the Quad City Basketball Academy (QCBA) as the founder/director and coach. The QCBA isn't the only outreach and community-centered endeavor that Carmichael has begun. He's also the founder/director of a non-profit organization that helps families and communities with members on the Autism Spectrum.
Coach Carmichael, a graduate and former basketball player at the University of Northern Iowa (81-83), set the career steals record (180), and led the team in minutes played, assists (4.5) steals (3.0), and rebounds (4.9) and was second in scoring (10.2) at 5'9 inches tall.
Coach Carmichael, was invited to the Atlanta Hawks Free Agent camp (1983), he played three years in the Southern California Summer Pro League, five years in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) in the Quad Cities, Rockford, LaCrosse and Cedar Rapids, and one year overseas in the Philippines and Guam. His last professional CBA Jersey (Rockford) was retired in 1992.
"The people at Ellsworth are great, from the other coaching staff to the administration. A year into my time at ECC, I had to have a kidney transplant. Everyone was always asking me how I was doing and checking in on my health, not just asking about the program. It let me know how much people cared," Carmichael reflects of his time with the Panthers.