Carrie Ann Graf (born 23 June 1967) is an Australian basketball coach. She competed in the WNBL as a player starting during 1983–1989, after which she attended

RMIT The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (abbreviated as RMIT University) is a public research university located in the city of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia., section 4(b) Established in 1887 by Francis Ormond, it is the seventh-o ...

. Graf has coached teams in the WNBL, WNBA and Australia's national team, and has been honoured for her contribution to basketball coaching.

Early life and education

After having earned a diploma of coaching from the Australian Coaching Council in 1991, Graf attended

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, where she earned a Bachelor of Applied Science in Physical Education in 1992. She has several hobbies including listening to music and cooking.

Player

Graff started her professional basketball career as a 15-year-old with the

Nunawading Spectres Nunawading Spectres is a NBL1 South club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The club is a division of Melbourne East Basketball Association (MEBA), the major administrative basketball ...

in the WNBL. In her first year of a seven-year stint with the Spectres from 1983 until 1989, she was named the Rookie of the Year and competed in the league Championships. She also played on the team for RMIT when she was a student there.

Coaching

Graf has coached women's basketball for over 30 years.

WNBL

In 2007 and 2008, Graf was named the WNBL Coach of the Year. As of 2010, she holds the most records in the WNBL for coaching wins, with over 200.

Sydney Flames

From 1993 to 1996, Graf coached the

Sydney Flames The Sydney Flames are an Australian professional basketball team based in Sydney, New South Wales. The Flames compete in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) and play their home games at Quaycentre. The club began as the Bankstown Brui ...

. In 1993 and 1996, her teams finished first, and had only one loss alongside seventeen wins.

Canberra Capitals

Graf coached the

Canberra Capitals The University of Canberra Capitals are an Australian professional women's basketball team competing in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). The team is based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. In 2014 the University of Canberr ...

from 1999 to 2016, across 15 seasons, excluding 2002 and 2004 during which she was coaching

Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Mercury compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. One of eight original franchises, it wa ...

in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

. She coached the team to win six titles in the WNBL Championship, including the

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

and

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

seasons.

WNBA

In 2004 and 2005, Graf coached

in the WNBA. Prior to holding that position, she was an assistant coach with the team for four years in 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2003. She did not coach during the 2000 season because of her commitments to the Australian national team.

National team

Graf was an assistant coach for the national team that competed at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, when the team won a bronze medal and when the team won a silver medal at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

. Graf became the coach of the

Australia women's national basketball team The Australia women's national basketball team, nicknamed the Opals after the brightly coloured gemstone common to the country, represents Australia in international basketball. From 1994 onwards, the Opals have been consistently competitive ...

in December 2008. In 2009, she coached the Australian side that won the FIBA Oceania Championship. Graf resigned as coach of the women's national team in 2013 after four years. Graf coached the Australian side that competed in and won the women's basketball competition at the 2007 World University Games. She led the Uniroos team, the Australian delegates, at the 2021 World University Games.

University coaching

In December 2017, Graf joined the

University of Canberra The University of Canberra (UC) is a public university, public research university with its main campus located in Bruce, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The campus is from Belconnen Town Centre, and from Canberra's Civic, Australian ...

in the newly created position of Director of Sport. She had previously been the university's first coach in residence in 2013, which included mentoring programs and conducting lectures, as part of the university's sport studies program, as an associate professor.

Television

Graf has been a commentator for the WNBL since 2021.

Recognition

In 1996, the Australian Coaching Council awarded Graf with the High Performance Coach Award and Young Coach of the Year Award. In 2000, Graf was honoured with being given an

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, off ...

for service to basketball. She has also been honoured by being named a life member of the WNBL in 2006. ACTsport named her the Sportsperson of the year in 2008. At the

2015 Australia Day Honours The 2015 Australia Day Honours were announced on 26 January 2015 by the Governor General of Australia, Sir Peter Cosgrove. The Australia Day Honours are the first of the two major annual honours lists, announced on Australia Day (26 January), wit ...

, Carrie was appointed a Member of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

for her significant service to basketball, particularly as a coach, mentor and athlete, and to the community. In 2017, she was inducted into the

Basketball Australia Basketball Australia (BA), officially registered as BA Limited, is the governing body for basketball in Australia. Established in 1939, BA is a not-for-profit organisation responsible for overseeing basketball at all levels in Australia. B ...

Hall of Fame. Graf was awarded the

in 2000 in recognition of her results at the 2000 Olympics. In 2024, inducted into ACT Sport Hall of Fame as Associate Member.

Personal life

Graf ended a relationship with her partner, a former

federal agent ''Federal Agent'' is a 1936 American crime film directed by Sam Newfield and written by Barry Barringer. The film stars William Boyd, Irene Ware, Don Alvarado, Lenita Lane, George Cooper and Charles A. Browne. The film was released on April 1 ...

, and lives in Ainslie,

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

. They have three children. Graf’s ex also appeared in the second season of the Australian version of ''The Traitors''.

References

External links

Carrie Graf
WNBL {{DEFAULTSORT:Graf, Carrie 1967 births Living people Australian people of German descent Australian women's basketball players Canberra Capitals coaches Members of the Order of Australia Phoenix Mercury coaches Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal RMIT University alumni Articles containing video clips Place of birth missing (living people) Australian women's basketball coaches Seattle Storm coaches 20th-century Australian sportswomen Sydney Flames coaches