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Western Michigan assistant Rick Carter hired to same position at Missouri

Rick Carter

Rick Carter, an assistant at Western Michigan for the past four years, has been hired to join coach Frank Haith’s staff in the same capacity at Missouri, the school announced Tuesday.

“I am excited to welcome Rick Carter into our basketball family,” Haith said in a release.

“Rick is a talented coach and a relentless recruiter. He has a great basketball background working for Steve Hawkins at Western Michigan, Ed Cooley at Fairfield and of course Tom Izzo at Michigan State and he has connections to a couple members of our staff, so I really liked the instant fit.”

Carter also has important ties to the AAU circuit with the Michigan Mustangs, recruiting ties that continue to be increasingly important for assistant coaches across the country.

Western Michigan finished 14-20 this past season, including 6-10 in the MAC.

“I’m so excited to join Coach Haith’s program here at Missouri,” Carter said in a statement. “The history and tradition at Mizzou makes this one of the best jobs in America and of course I know all about the great players from the state of Michigan that had standout careers as Tigers, including Doug Smith, whose number is retired here.

“I want to thank Coach Haith and the administration for this opportunity and I want to thank everyone at Western Michigan for the four great years in Kalamazoo.”

Missouri, moving to the SEC from the Big 12 for this upcoming season, finished with an overall record of 30-5 last season, including 14-4 in the conference.

The Tigers’ season ended with a loss to underdog Norfolk State in the Round of 64 of the NCAA tournament.

In July, assistant Ryan Miller left Missouri after just two months with the team to take a job with head coach Tony Barbee at Auburn.

Photo Credit: Western Michigan Athletics

Daniel Martin is a writer and editor at JohnnyJungle.com, covering St. John’s. You can find him on Twitter:@DanielJMartin_