Clarisse Garcia is in her fifth year as an assistant women's basketball coach at Auburn for the 2020-21 season. She joined the Auburn staff on April 12, 2016, and serves as the Tigers' recruiting coordinator, among other duties.
Garcia's first season at Auburn saw the Tigers advance to their second consecutive NCAA Tournament, finishing with a 17-15 overall record. Her second season saw Auburn finish with a 14-15 overall record, but she was instrumental in landing the nation's No. 12-ranked recruiting class that enrolled at Auburn for the 2018-19 school year. That 2018-19 season saw the Tigers return to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four seasons while posting a 22-10 overall record (9-7 SEC), the best finish for Auburn in a decade.
She came to The Plains after spending four seasons as an assistant at Wake Forest. At Wake Forest, Garcia's teams steadily improved, going from a 13-win season in her first year to a 17-win season in 2016 that resulted in a berth in the Women's NIT, the best finish for the Demon Deacons since 2012.
She served as an assistant at Alabama for one year, spending the 2011-12 season on the bench with current Auburn assistant Ty Evans. At Alabama, she was primarily responsible for recruiting, player development, elite camp and scouting.
Prior to Alabama, she was the head coach at Division II Palm Beach Atlantic for two seasons. In May of 2010, she took over a team that had six wins the previous year and increased that total immediately. The Sailfish closed out the 2010-11 campaign on a five-game winning streak en route to capturing the Independent Invitational Classic Tournament Championship in Washington, D.C.
The fall of 2012 saw Palm Beach Atlantic get off to the best start in program history, winning four of its first six contests. Under Garcia's watch, Sailfish student-athletes set several program bests including the all-time three-point scoring leader and single-season three-point scoring leader, the all-time leading rebounder, and the all-time blocking leader. She also had two student-athletes named to the Independent Collegiate Athletic Association (ICAA) second team and another two named to the All-ICAA third team.
In addition to their success on the court, Garcia's teams excelled in the classroom as she oversaw an increase in the team's overall GPA from below a 3.0 to 3.2. Throughout her tenure, she had two student-athletes with 4.0 GPAs, attaining President's List status, two qualifying for the Provost's List (3.5-3.9) and six on the Athletics Director's List (3.0-3.4).
Prior to Palm Beach Atlantic, Garcia spent one season as the top assistant and recruiting coordinator at Stetson University. While there, she recruited and signed a nationally-ranked student-athlete and helped coach the team to an appearance in the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament.
Garcia began her coaching career as a graduate assistant at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Pa. In her two seasons with the Griffins, she assisted in the mentoring and development of student-athletes, which could be seen both on and off the court. In her final season at Seton Hill, Garcia helped coach the team to a fourth-place finish in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Association (WVIAC) Conference tournament, in addition to helping the Griffins rank third nationally for team GPA in NCAA Division II. In 2009, Garcia was named the Women's Basketball Coaches Association/Women's Sports Foundation graduate assistant of the year.
Garcia was an accomplished player at Villanova University. During her four-year career (2003-07) with the Wildcats women's basketball team, she was a three-time BIG EAST All-Academic team member as well as a three-time member of the Villanova dean's list. She served as team captain her senior season and helped the Wildcats advance to the NCAA Tournament in 2004, as well as the Women's National Invitation Tournament in 2005 and 2006.
A native of Hopewell, Pa., Garcia also has been involved in several camps and clinics including the Prohoops Camp at the Final Four, Leadership Through Basketball Camps in Morocco, University of Pittsburgh Summer Camps, Harry Perretta Basketball Clinics, Nike Basketball Camps and the Philadelphia Big 5 Clinics.