AUBURN, Ala.— Sydney Carter, a rising star in the women’s basketball coaching world, has joined the Auburn staff as an assistant coach, it was announced today by head coach Larry Vickers.
“Sydney is a perfect fit for our Auburn women’s basketball program,” Vickers said. “We’re excited to add someone with such a winning pedigree. She won a national championship as a player, she played in the WNBA, and she’s coached in two Final Fours. Sydney is going to be an excellent recruiter and teacher of the game, but more importantly, she’s a relationship builder.”
Carter comes to The Plains after spending the last four seasons on staff at the University of Texas, helping the Longhorns to back-to-back Final Four appearances the last two seasons. She was part of a national championship team as a player at Texas A&M in 2011 and played four seasons in the WNBA.
“I am so excited and thankful to be joining Coach LV’s staff and Auburn women’s basketball,” Carter said. “I am looking forward to hitting the ground running with Coach, his staff and team, complementing the system and standard he’s building here at Auburn. The opportunity to learn and grow here is something I will take advantage of every day. War Eagle!”
In 2025-26, Carter helped the Longhorns to their second straight Final Four and their first SEC Tournament championship. Texas earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the third straight season and finished with a 35-4 overall record.
The 2024-25 season saw the Longhorns win a share of the SEC regular season title in their first year in the league and advance to the Final Four for the first time in 22 years. Madison Booker was named the SEC Player of the Year and an Associated Press First Team All-American. Booker won the Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year award for the second straight season. Rori Harmon and Taylor Jones earned WBCA All-America honorable mention honors and Jordan Lee earned a spot on the SEC All-Freshman Team.
Carter joined the Longhorns as the program’s director of player development in 2022 and was named assistant coach prior to the 2024-25 season.
She came to Texas after two seasons on staff at Texas A&M, her alma mater, under the direction of legendary head coach Gary Blair. While at Texas A&M, she served as player development coach, assistant recruiting coordinator and video coordinator. The Aggies won the SEC regular-season championship and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2021.
Carter was a standout player for the Aggies from 2008-2012 under Blair and current Texas head coach Vic Schaefer. During her time in Aggieland, she helped lead her team to the 2011 National Championship and 2010 Big 12 Tournament Championship.
As a player, Carter was a three-time team captain and was a defensive anchor for the A&M defense, earning a spot on the Big 12 All-Defensive Team in 2011 and 2012. Additionally, Carter took home the team's Miss Defense Award three times (2010, 2011, 2012) and won the squad's coveted Miss Aggie Award after her senior season. The DeSoto, Texas, native ranks 10th all-time in A&M history in steals (206), is tied for 10th in assists (388) and 17th in points (1,176).
Carter was selected 27th overall in the WNBA draft to the Chicago Sky and enjoyed a four-year career in the WNBA. During Carter's seven-year international career, she played in countries such as Latvia and Israel. She was a three-time Latvian/Estonian Champion (2014, 2016, 2017) and also added an Eastern European League Championship in 2016.