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Caroline McCombs Hometown: Medina, Ohio Position: Assistant Coach Experience: 1st Season Alma Mater: Youngstown State (1998)

Caroline McCombs was announced as an assistant coach at Auburn on May 1, 2012. She joins new head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy in her first season at Auburn.

McCombs comes to Auburn after two seasons at Northwestern and 13 years coaching in the collegiate ranks. At Auburn, she will serve as the recruiting coordinator while also coaching the perimeter players.

"Caroline is a great addition to our staff, she's very well-known in the field of women's basketball and she has worked extremely hard," said Williams-Flournoy. "I wanted her abilities to recruit and her presence on the court to help us at Auburn. She is also a tireless recruiter with some great relationships in the South."

In her time as an assistant coach at Valparaiso, Pittsburgh and Northwestern, McCombs has helped lead teams to nine postseason appearances and five NCAA Tournaments, including two trips to the Sweet 16.

Most recently, McCombs coached for two seasons at Northwestern, assisting the Wildcats to a WNIT second round appearance in her first season. She held a similar position at Pittsburgh, heading up the Panthers recruiting efforts while overseeing the perimeter players and handling scouting and scheduling of opponents.

While at Pitt, McCombs helped coach the team to five-straight post-season appearances from 2005-10, including three trips to the NCAA Tournament with back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances in 2008 and 2009. She also coached Shavonte Zellous, who went on to earn All-America honors and was the 11th overall pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft.

Before going to Pitt, McCombs spent six seasons at then-Mid-Continent member Valparaiso, the first five as assistant coach and the last as associate head coach. During that time, she helped the Crusaders to five seasons of 18 or more wins, two conference championships and three postseason appearances, including back-to-back trips to the NCAA Tournament in 2003 and 2004.

While at Valparaiso, she helped the team with its biggest turnaround, going from a 7-22 season in 2000-01 to a 26-7 mark in the 2001-02 season. The biggest single-season turnaround in the NCAA that season, the Crusaders capped it off with a conference championship and a trip to the WNIT Quarterfinals.

McCombs also made sure her teams at Valparaiso got their work done in the classroom. In addition to their work on the court, Valparaiso earned a spot among the WBCA Academic Top 25 teams from 1999-2004.

McCombs, a native of Medina, Ohio, graduated from Youngstown State in 1998 with a degree in dietetics. While attending Youngstown State, McCombs earned an impressive list of accomplishments for the Penguins' basketball team, including places on the Mid-Continent Conference Second Team in 1996 and 1998, and on the Mid-Continent All-Tournament Team three consecutive years from 1996-98.

She also left her mark in the record books at Youngstown State. At guard she started 112-of-115 career games and scored 1,577 career points, finishing her career as the school's sixth-leading scorer. McCombs is also among the school leaders with 146 career three-pointers, 493 assists, and 236 steals.

After McCombs graduated from Youngstown State, she played European professional women's basketball, competing in the Czech Basketball Federation and European Cup in 1998. She continued her education, receiving her master's degree from Valparaiso in 2001.

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