'It's a dream job for me': South Dakota women's basketball introduces new coach Carrie Eighmey

The University of South Dakota introduced its new women’s basketball coach, Carrie Eighmey, in front of a room full of Coyotes fans on Tuesday morning.

After brief speeches from USD president Sheila Gestring, athletic director Jon Schemmel, and Eighmey, Schemmel handed the program’s new head coach a red Coyotes basketball jersey with her name and the number 12 on it, representing Eighmey's distinction as the 12th head coach in program history.

Eighmey joins USD after a brief stint at the University of Idaho, where she led the Vandals to a 15-16 record and an 8-10 mark in the competitive Big Sky Conference. After only a year at Idaho, she decided to make the move to South Dakota.

The opportunity to join the Coyotes was just too good to pass up for Eighmey.

“I've said this many times over the past couple of weeks, but USD is a place that I wanted to be for a very long time,” Eighmey said Tuesday. “It's a dream job for me.”

When the coaching search began, Schemmel and his team quickly created a profile for what they wanted in a head coach: someone who had a reputation for outworking others, a proven winner, a proven recruiter, someone who had shown they could build up a program and have sustained success, someone who outperformed their resources and who had an appreciation for the program. But they also wanted someone who could develop young people, that was a must.

“Every time we kept coming back to it ... Whether it was talking to Dawn (Plitzuweit), to Amy (Williams), or one of the hundreds of other people that we talked to throughout this process, we kept coming back to one name, and that was Carrie (Eighmey),” Schemmel said.

Eighmey grew up in Edgar, Nebraska, a small town only three and a half hours south of Vermillion, so this feels like home, she said. The appeal of familiarity and the high regard with which she views the university, the athletic department, the program and the community all contributed to her accepting the position.

The success the program has had over the years was also a draw for the 12-year head coach. Eighmey still remembers watching South Dakota's NCAA Tournament run to the Sweet 16 in 2022 and was impressed with the level of support from the fans.

“It's very surreal for me to lead this program that I've admired and respected for such a long time,” she said. “I see it as an honor and a privilege.”

Eighmey accepted the position with the added accomplishment of having the stamp of approval from two of the most successful coaches in program history in Plitzuweit and Williams. Those endorsements may have put her over the edge.

“Super special,” Eighmey said of what it meant to receive support from the former coaches. "Both of those women are people that I've looked up to for a long time.”

“I can't wait for next season in Sanford arena and I'm super excited to see what all of us can build together,” Eighmey said at the end of her speech. “Go Yotes.”

Jonathan Fernandez covers high school and college sports for the Argus Leader. Contact him at jfernandez1@argusleader.com. Follow him on Twitter at@JFERN31

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: South Dakota women's basketball introduces new coach Carrie Eighmey