Bio

Carla Bartee’s stellar player development abilities were put on full display in 2023-24, and she returns for her third season as a Gulf Coast assistant coach.

The Bulldogs won the MACCC and NJCAA Region 23 championships in 2024, earning the school’s first conference crown since 2000. Gulf Coast made its first trip to the national championship since 1977 with its journey to Casper, Wyo.

The Bulldogs went 23-5 last year, including a 13-1 mark in MACCC play to share the title with Pearl River. They swept to the region title in Jackson behind the powerful play of four sophomores.

Simaru Fields earned NJCAA All-American honors and was named to the CSC Academic All-American team. She’ll continue her college career at NCAA Division I Old Dominion. Fellow guard Ja’Sharreah Hunt was an All-Region 23 performer who will play at NCAA Division I Southeastern Louisiana, and forward Je'Mya Evans is headed to NCAA Division I Southern Miss after earning All-Region honors. Forward Tytiana Buckley was also named to the All-Region team and will continue her college basketball at NCAA Division II Mississippi College.

The Bulldogs are 40-11 in her two seasons at Gulf Coast.

In 2022-23, the Bulldogs finished fourth in the MACCC, then won in the quarterfinals over Coahoma to advance to Clinton where they lost to eventual region champions Jones. She developed Simaru Fields into an All-Region performer who earned a spot playing in the NJCAA Women’s Basketball Coaches Association All-Star Weekend in Atlanta as part of the top 40 prospects.

She spent the previous three years as the assistant at Northwest Mississippi, and she helped immediately turn around the Rangers. They went 17-10 in her first season, making a run to the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament championship game. Known for her player development skills, two members of that squad signed to play at Mississippi College. Northwest made it to the MACCC Tournament semifinals in 2022 and finished the season 15-11. 

Northwest was Bartee’s first coaching position after she spent 10 years playing professionally overseas. She started in Sweden in 2008-9, where she made the All-Defensive Team and was All-Swedish honorable mention in the highest league. She played in Germany in 2010-11 and finally in Romania from 2011-19, where she was a three-time Romanian League All-Star, a member of the All-Romanian League First Team in 2016 and also Center of the Year. Her teams won one league championship and were runners-up twice.

Bartee, who is originally from Waynesboro, played at Wayne County High School and averaged 24.4 points, 12.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks as a senior in 2002-03. Wayne County went 26-5 and finished as Class 5A runners-up. She averaged 16.3 points and 11.6 rebounds as a junior, earning All-State Second Team honors, as well as All-America Honorable Mention from Street & Smith’s.

Bartee started her college career at Western Kentucky, where she started 27 games and played in all 34 as a freshman, averaging 11.8 points and 8.8 rebounds. She was All-Tournament at the 2004 Sun Belt Tournament. She was the league’s fourth-leading rebounder, and WKU finished 20-14 and 10-4 in conference. The Hilltoppers made it to the third round of the WNIT.

She transferred to Ole Miss and played three seasons under coaches Carol Ross and Renee Ladner. She helped lead the Rebels to a 54-41 record with trips to the Elite Eight in the 2007 NCAA Tournament and the WNIT. Bartee led Ole Miss in rebounding as a senior, pulling down 8.0 boards per game. As a sophomore, she was the leading 3-point shooter, hitting nearly 35 percent of her shots from behind the arc.

Bartee has a bachelor’s in journalism and psychology from Ole Miss.