Carlos Funchess (born February 13, 1969) is an American

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

coach for the Southern Lady Jaguars of the

Southwestern Athletic Conference The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, which is made up of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southern United St ...

. He played college basketball for the Northeast Louisiana (now called Louisiana–Monroe) Warhawks and later professionally for several years. Funchess was born and raised in

Magee, Mississippi Magee is a city in Simpson County, Mississippi, United States. It is part of the Jackson metropolitan area. History The first settlers in the area were Arthur Mangum and Phil Magee, who came into the area around 1820. Pioneers from Virginia an ...

. After his prep career he played two seasons at

Copiah–Lincoln Community College Copiah–Lincoln Community College (Co–Lin) is a public community college with its main campus in Wesson, Mississippi. The Co–Lin District serves a seven-county area including Adams County, Mississippi, Adams, Copiah County, Mississippi, Copi ...

before transferring to Northeast Louisiana prior to the 1989–90 season. He led the Warhawks to consecutive

Southland Conference The Southland Conference (SLC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it participates in ...

regular season and

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

championships. As a senior, Funchess averaged 19.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game and was named Southland Conference co-Player of the Year with teammate Anthony Jones. Following his college career, Funchess played professionally in several North American minor leagues as well as in Venezuela. He played in the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA), originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association, was a men's professional basketball m ...

(CBA) for the

Sioux Falls Skyforce The Sioux Falls Skyforce are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and are affiliated with the Miami Heat. The team has played its home games in the Sanford Pentagon since the 2013–14 ...

and

Rockford Lightning The Rockford Lightning was a basketball team that played in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA). They were based in Rockford, Illinois. History The Lightning were the oldest team in the CBA, originally existing as the Lancaster Red R ...

. He played 19 games in his CBA career, averaging 5.6 points per game over two seasons. After his playing career, Funchess joined the women's basketball coaching staff at

Southern University Southern University and A&M College (Southern University, Southern, SUBR or SU) is a Public university, public historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States. It i ...

in 2005. In 2018, he was hired as the head coach to replace Sandy Pugh, who left to coach

Prairie View A&M Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU or PV) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Prairie View, Texas, United States. Founded in 1876, it is one of Texas's two lan ...

. His first season was highly successful as the Lady Jaguars went 20–13 and won both the regular season and

championships in the

(SWAC). He was named conference coach of the year and was recognized nationally as the Maggie Dixon Award winner as the top first-year head coach. Funchess led the Lady Jaguars to the 2023 SWAC tournament title in his fifth season.

References

External links

Southern Lady Jaguars bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Funchess, Carlos 1969 births Living people 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen American expatriate basketball people in Venezuela American men's basketball players American women's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Mississippi Basketball players from Mississippi Copiah–Lincoln Community College alumni Junior college men's basketball players in the United States Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks men's basketball players People from Magee, Mississippi Rockford Lightning players Shooting guards Sioux Falls Skyforce (CBA) players Southern Lady Jaguars basketball coaches