Carroll College Men's Basketball

Pearson was hired as the 29th Head Coach in Carroll Men's Basketball program history in May of 2024. LAST SEASON: Pearson led a young and talented group of Fighting Saints to his first NAIA Men's Basketball Championship appearance as a Head Coach. Finishing with a 20-10 record overall, Carroll finished tied for second place in the new 12-team Frontier Conference standings with a 17-15 record in league play. Following an 8-1 start to the season, the Saints jumped back into the NAIA Coaches' Poll for the first time since 2022 at No. 15, and finished the year with five wins over teams either ranked or receiving votes in the poll. The '25-26 Saints were the highest-scoring group in program history, averaging 85.6 points per game, scoring 90 or more points in 12 of their 30 games on the season. Carroll finished the season inside the NAIA Top-10 in both field goal percentage (No. 10 - 50.5%), and three-point percentage (No. 3 - 40.3%). Isaiah Crane one again led the Frontier Conference in scoring throughout league play, averaging 20.0 ppg en route to being named the Frontier Conference Player of the Year. For the second time in as many years, Pearson coached the league's Freshman of the Year, as Drew Jones garnered his first postseason honor. Kellen Harrison was named a Second Team All-Frontier performer, and was a member of the All-Defensive team with a program-record 64 total seals. Isaac Round was named a Second Team All-Conference selection, and the Saints were well represented on the Academic front as well. Six student-athletes were named NAIA Daktronics Scholar-Athletes, while eight earned Academic All-Conference distinctions. 2024-25: The Fighting Saints saw their share of early-season struggles under first-year Head Coach Pearson, but found their stride four games into conference play, finishing the year as one of the hottest teams in the NAIA. Following an 0-3 start to league play, the Saints won 10 of their final 14 games of the year to finish tied for second-place in the final Frontier Conference standings. A young group of Saints were led by Frontier Conference Freshman of the Year, Isaiah Crane, who became the third-straight Carroll player to lead the league in scoring, averaging 18.2 ppg. Crane, a First Team All-Conference selection, was joined by Second Team selection Isaac Round on the All-Conference lists. The pair became the first two freshman in program history to average 10.0 ppg or better. Pearson was named the NAIA Hoops Report Coach of the Week in February, following a pair of impressive wins to climb back into the Frontier title chase.   A native of Billings, Mont., Pearson is a Carroll Alumnus (2013) who was a three-year player on the Men's Basketball team before joining the coaching ranks as an assistant under former Head Coach, Carson Cunningham.   At the time of his hiring, Pearson was the Head Coach of Team FOG Naestved, a professional team in Denmark, competing in championship series of the nation's top league, Danish Basketligaen.   Pearson has enjoyed success at numerous stops in the European professional basketball scene over the past three seasons. He has a Head Coaching Record of 43-22 (65 percent). Twice he was named Danish Basketligaen Coach of the Month, and he was recently named the 2023-2014 Danish Basketligaen Regular Season Coach of the Year following his team's 2024 Danish Cup Championship.   In addition to his role as Head Coach of Team FOG Naestved, he was an assistant Women's Basketball Coach for the Netherlands National Team, a qualifier for EuroBasket 2025.    Prior to his time in Denmark, Pearson was an Assistant Coach at Jena Science City, a German Pro A league team, as well as Head Coach of the Reading Rockets, an NBL Division I team in the United Kingdom. While he was coaching the Rockets, he also headed up the top academy and club team for the program, competing in England's EABL (Elite Academy Basketball League) and England's U18 Premier League.   From 2016 to 2021, Pearson was an Assistant Men's Basketball Coach at the University of Calgary, where he was instrumental in recruiting, individual skill development, and game preparation. In 2018 the Dino's won the USports Canadian National Championship. During the 2020-21 season, USports canceled competition due to the Covid-19 pandemic and Pearson worked as a special assistant for Cunningham at NCAA Division I Incarnate Word.   Following a three-year career on court for the Fighting Saints, Pearson assisted Cunningham for three additional seasons, including the 2016 season in which Carroll advanced to the NAIA National Quarterfinals.   Pearson graduated from Carroll in 2013 with a Bachelor's Degree in Education – also serving as class Vice President, and received his Master's Degree in Organizational Leadership from Gonzaga University in 2017. BY THE NUMBERS Seasons: 2 Record: 35-25 Overall Collegiate Record: 35-25 Carroll Year-By-Year 2024-25: 15-15 2024-25: 20-10

Brad Schmit joins the Carroll staff as the Lead Assistant following a highly successful six-year run as the Head Coach at Central Wyoming College.   Schmit is Central Wyoming's all-time leader in wins, the longest-tenured head coach in the program's history. A proven recruiter, Schmit saw numerous players move on to programs at the NCAA Division I, II, III, and NAIA levels.    Prior to his time at Central Wyoming, Schmit spent six years on staff at MSU Billings. He served as the assistant coach for four seasons and the associate head coach for two seasons. He got his start in coaching as an Assistant/Recruiting Coordinator at his alma mater, Morningside (Iowa), following a decorated playing career in which he finished as the school's all-time leading scorer and most prolific 3-point shooter in the history of the college. "Coach Schmit's hiring was an early steal for our program." Said Pearson. "Getting someone with his resume and experience to work with me and our athletes was more than I could have hoped for in the early build of our program. His recruitment network and capacity to build relationships with recruits has already proved invaluable in our early work together. Brad is a master skills development coach and will be key to one of our short-term program needs, which is to rebuild our camps and academies programs. The revamping of our camps and community engagement is core to what we are aiming to give back to the Helena community, and we feel like we have started building the right staff to accomplish this. We are so excited to welcome Brad, his wife, Jacque, and their three boys to Helena."