Caroline McCombs

AMES — Iowa State women’s basketball head coach Bill Fennelly has named Caroline McCombs as associate head coach. McCombs will begin her duties with the Cyclones immediately.

“I am very excited to add Caroline McCombs to our staff,” said Fennelly. “I have known Caroline for years and have the utmost respect for what she has done throughout her career. She is known as one of the hardest workers in the profession and one of the best recruiters in the game. I have always been impressed with how Caroline is able to develop relationships with players and those she works with on a daily basis. This is a major addition to Cyclone Women’s Basketball!”

McCombs spent the 2025-26 season at Auburn as an assistant coach. She spent four seasons as the head coach at George Washington, where she led her teams to 55 wins, rebuilding a program that had not had a winning season in the three seasons prior to her arrival.

McCombs’ first two seasons at GW resulted in a run to the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Championship.

A proven winner at every stop during her coaching career, McCombs arrived at George Washington after seven years as the head coach at Stony Brook where she led the Seawolves to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2021.

The 2020 America East Coach of the Year, McCombs won 130 games in seven years at Stony Brook. In 2021, she led the Seawolves to a 15-6 mark, winning the America East Tournament Championship and earning a No. 14 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Prior to becoming a head coach, McCombs gained a wealth of experience as an assistant coach for 15 years at the Division I level. She assisted four different programs and appeared in five NCAA tournaments, including two Sweet 16 appearances.

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 3-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.