Carole Baumgarten (1995) - Hall of Fame

Carole Baumgarten

Induction:
1995
Class:
1970

Born in Cherokee, Iowa, Carole Baumgarten is a 1966 graduate of Hartley High School. She graduated from the University of Northern Iowa in 1970 and received her master's degree from UNI in 1971, with both degrees earned in political science.

Immediately following graduation, she took a job as a teacher and coach at Dallas Community High School in Dallas Center, Iowa, where she remained until 1974.

Those experiences laid the foundation for what she is best known for her coaching record at Drake University and her business acumen since leaving Drake. Baumgarten was named the first women's basketball coach at Drake in 1974, when she remained until 1986. She compiled a 258-98 mark with the Bulldogs, leading them into postseason play in eight of her last nine seasons. During her tenure, she was a finalist for Kodak Coach of the Year, coached several Olympic hopefuls and National Sports Festival participants, at least six NWIT all-Americans, had several conference Players of the Year, two freshman all-Americans and an NCAA regional MVP. She was listed as one of the Top 25 winning active coaches among Division I programs during her tenure.

She was a member of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Service Award Committee, was a color commentator for the NCAA regionally televised basketball tournament, coached the United States team at the Soviet Union's National Games and was a member of the United States Olympic Basketball Committee. She also built a booster program at Drake. Baumgarten gave up her sideline pass when she became executive director of the Des Moines YWCA, a position she held from 1986-89. Her primary focus was to turn around a financially troubled operation and improve the Y's image. She instituted computer skills program at the Y for disadvantaged women, improved the room occupancy rate from 50 to 95 percent and expanded the Y's child care programs, increasing the participants from 50 to 135.

Because of her successes at the YWCA, she was named president and chief executive officer of Prairie Meadows race track in 1989. Her main focus again was to rescue an operation in dire financial straits. Following two years with Prairie Meadows, she was hired by Iowa Realty Co. in November of 1991 to head its hotel-motel division, including the Savery Hotel in Des Moines and three other area properties. She also became president and a partner in Knapp Hotels.