The Cascade Collegiate Conference celebrates Women's History Month and International Women's Day with a feature on first-year head coach at Southern Oregon University, Carlotta Kloppenburg-Pruitt, who is expecting her first child.
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Carlotta Kloppenburg-Pruitt comes from a line of basketball coaches, but she’s writing her own history and proving she can be a great coach and a great mom.
According to Kloppenburg-Pruitt’s bio on the Southern Oregon University Raiders website, “Southern Oregon University Director of Athletics Matt Sayre identified a rising star in women's college basketball to lead the Raiders” and she sure seems to be rising.
In her first year as a head coach, Kloppenburg-Pruitt won the 2021-22 Cascade Collegiate Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament Championship, presented by U.S. Bank, qualified for the NAIA National Tournament and was named the CCC Coach of the Year.
Even more impressive: she’s doing it pregnant.
Kloppenburg-Pruitt is due with her first child in April so she’s been coaching the whole year with a partner in crime.
“Coaching pregnant this season has honestly been so much fun,” said Kloppenburg-Pruitt. “I have been able to share this journey with my team. Every few weeks one of them comes in with a new outfit for her! Besides feeling like I played 40 minutes after a game, and some uncomfortable bus rides, it has been very enjoyable.”
Kloppenburg-Pruitt took the job in May of 2021, in the middle of a pandemic, where the Raiders had opted out of the year due to covid concerns. Still, Kloppenburg-Pruitt seemed to have found a home.
“As soon as I stepped on campus at SOU, I knew this place was special because of the people here,” said Kloppenburg-Pruitt. “From our administration to all of the coaches and student-athletes, everyone supports each other in a way I have not seen before. We are a very tight-knit group. If you just look at our student sections during our playoff games you will understand how together we are.”
It helps to have that support when you compete in one of the toughest conferences in the NAIA too.
“The CCC is a tough and talented conference,” said Kloppenburg-Pruitt. “I have always said the travel in this conference isn't for the weak. You have to have resiliency going on the road and that's what makes this conference so competitive. I have enjoyed getting to know all of the coaches as well!”
After a pair of tough exhibitions against NCAA opponents before the season officially tipped off, SOU got its first win under Kloppenburg-Pruitt to start the year.
“Winning that first game as a head coach was very special,” said Kloppenburg-Pruitt. “I don't think I have ever been so nervous before that game!”
Kloppenburg-Pruitt’s nerves might have been on the line, but she coached her team to a 78-39 blowout over Simpson University. From there, the Raiders won 10-straight games before claiming the second seed in the CCC tournament. In the championship game, SOU dismantled top-seeded and No. 19-ranked Lewis-Clark State College 56-34 to win the title – after the Raiders had been predicted to finish fifth in the preseason poll.
“This year has been a whirlwind but so special,” said Kloppenburg-Pruitt. “I inherited a team of great character women that have welcomed me from the beginning. We have had our ups and downs this season, but their toughness has always shined through and that is how we were able to overcome some of the difficult parts of the season. I am so lucky to coach these players, especially in my first season as a head coach.”
The name Kloppenburg might sound familiar in the basketball world, Kloppenburg-Pruitt’s father Gary Kloppenburg has been an assistant in the WNBA since 2000 and was the interim head coach for the 2020 Seattle Storm team that won the WNBA championship. Her grandfather, Bob Kloppenburg, was also a coach in the NBA for 17 years.
Despite the lineage, it wasn’t until college that Kloppenburg-Pruitt discovered her passion for coaching.
“It wasn't until my junior year of college when I started interning with my dad's team that I really thought this was something I would want to get into,” said Kloppenburg-Pruitt. “I always loved basketball but was really into fitness and training in college and I thought I would go that route. Once I interned with my dad in the summer, I felt like this was something I wanted to pursue and just couldn't get away from basketball.”
Kloppenburg-Pruitt has held multiple roles on various basketball coaching staffs leading to her becoming a Raider. She spent three years as an assistant at NCAA Division I San Jose State, where she served as recruiting coordinator and was responsible for implementing defensive schemes, developing post players, and composing scouting reports. In 2019-20, her second season on staff, the Spartans had the greatest single-season win turnaround in the country, going from 6-24 to 19-12. She also was a graduate assistant at Winthrop University and was in basketball operations at NCAA Division I Arizona State.
“From being a graduate assistant, to a Director of Operations, to an assistant coach, I have been able to do a little bit of everything in each position,” said Kloppenburg-Pruitt. “From travel itineraries, scouting reports, scheduling, individual workouts and everything else, I felt very prepared to take on a job as a head coach after being in all of those positions.”
When she first started at SOU, Kloppenburg-Pruitt had an idea of what kind of coach she would be, but as soon as she hit the hard floor the first day, a different coach showed up.
“I thought I was going to be a pretty calm coach when I started as a head coach but that wasn't the case,” said Kloppenburg-Pruitt. “I am very passionate and demanding of my players during practice and games. ‘Attitude and effort’ is our everyday motto. I try to hold them accountable for that every single day. I try to build intentional relationships with each of my players and hope they know we can always have open and honest communication.”
It's paid off as the Raider team, which has been receiving votes in the NAIA Coaches’ Polls, boasts a 28-5 record, including a four-game winning streak, heading into the postseason. Kloppenburg-Pruitt also knows she can’t get complacent at the top.
“I think the biggest challenge as a coach is to create a positive culture and maintain and grow that culture,” said Kloppenburg-Pruitt. “It is an everyday task and you can't take days off from holding people accountable to that culture, and recruiting the right people to that culture.”
While the stereotype of woman in coaching roles has changed over the years, it isn’t completely gone. Especially for a young female head coach.
“I think the culture of women coaches has shifted a lot in the past few years, but it has always been difficult to gain respect as a woman, especially with not having a lot of experience,” said Kloppenburg-Pruitt. “People will definitely doubt you, but I feel with even my lack of experience I rely on other great coaches around me to grow and learn from, and be the best coach I can be for these women.”
Kloppenburg-Pruitt might not have a lot of head coaching experience, but she has been under a lot of solid coaches who she looks up to.
“My dad has been my biggest coaching inspiration,” said Kloppenburg-Pruitt. “He has such a great mind for the game and has been an incredible mentor and teacher. I always learned a lot from Charli Turner Thorne, the head coach at Arizona State. She instilled in her players how important a positive culture is in a program and I have been able to bring a lot of what I learned there to SOU.”
The X’s and O’s are important to Kloppenburg-Pruitt, but she also wants to grow her players off the court.
“I want my players to leave my program as women who are prepared to take on the next steps of life in their careers, families, or whatever else they pursue,” said Kloppenburg-Pruitt. “I want them to know the importance of teamwork, patience, and love, and know they will always have their Raider family in support of them.”
Thorne also taught Kloppenburg-Pruitt it was possible to not only be a great coach, but a great mom.
“It is important for our younger generation to see women in positions that for so long only men had, and it's important to see them succeed at it,” said Kloppenburg-Pruitt. “When I was at ASU, I saw a strong woman in Charli who worked hard every day, while having three boys at home and mentoring 15 women while winning. She made me realize that I can do that too. I can be a coach who does things the right way, and also be a great mom.”