Stories Of Success: Ann Carr
February 28, 2023 | Athletics, Joel Coleman
Former Bulldog basketball player has become longtime leader in athletic administration at State.
(Throughout Black History Month, Mississippi State has celebrated its current Black student-athletes, coaches and administrators by telling several of their personal stories. Today, HailState.com concludes the series by shining the spotlight on MSU Deputy Athletic Director/Senior Woman Administrator and Chief Diversity Officer Ann Carr.)
STARKVILLE – A lot has changed at Mississippi State over the years. From the athletic facilities to the coaches and players that have competed within them, like most everything in life, the only constant is how things haven't stayed the same.
Well, most things.
Inside the Templeton Athletic Academic Center at MSU sits the office of Deputy Athletic Director/Senior Woman Administrator and Chief Diversity Officer Ann Carr. Save for a brief few months, she's essentially been a part of Mississippi State since she was a freshman basketball player for the Bulldogs back in 1986.
Carr was a student-athlete at Mississippi State. She got her undergraduate and graduate degrees from MSU. She was hired as assistant academic advisor in 1993 and outside of a short tenure at Southern Mississippi, has been in Starkville ever since.
Carr has gone from player to highly-respected professional and she's pretty much done it all in Maroon and White.
"I don't know any other place to be other than in Starkville, Mississippi, [and] Mississippi State University," Carr said. "It has truly been a place where I can say that it has helped shape who I am. It has allowed me to be able to grow and become the person that I am."
As her title indicates, the person Carr is encompasses so much. She's a leader. She's a helper. She's a shoulder to lean on and so much more.
Carr has helped shape lives – both on fields and courts and off of them. Countless individuals have had their lives positively impacted by Carr.
Looking at all that Carr has done for others, you'd likely never guess her path started with her keeping to herself.
"I'm an only child, and I was a loner," Carr – a native of Brookhaven, Mississippi – described herself as a kid.
Despite her reclusive tendencies, Carr did however develop a love for the game of basketball. It was that passion that would serve as the foundation for all she's built since.
Carr had a coach that attempted to get her involved in track as well as tennis. However, Carr's heart remained locked in on hoops.
By the time she was a teenager, Carr was a star for Brookhaven High. That, as well as her success playing AAU basketball, made Carr a highly-regarded recruit. Ole Miss, LSU and Mississippi State were among those going after Carr. It was MSU that ultimately won out for several reasons.
"I loved it here when I came to visit," Carr remembered. "Plus, Starkville was far enough from home, but close enough. It was the perfect distance."
What cemented Carr's destination was how then-State head coach Brenda Paul and staff treated someone that was incredibly special to Carr.
"My grandmother was still alive when I was being recruited, and if you treated my grandmother with respect, you about had me," Carr said. "Brenda and everyone did a really good job with my grandmother, and I watched that. I watched every coach that came in my house."
At State, Carr went on to be a four-year letterwinner for the Bulldogs. Her favorite memory was a 1989 victory over the LSU squad that had previously recruited Carr and that Carr had connections with.
"I was a center and Brenda and the coaches hated when I would shoot 3-pointers," Carr said. "They didn't like that, but I could shoot a 3-pointer. When LSU came, I did. We won that game and I shot a couple of them. Mississippi State didn't win a lot of games during that time, but that was a great win."
Maybe the biggest victory of Carr's career actually came away from the hardwood. She had a realization.
"I looked around as a student-athlete and saw that not a lot of people surrounding me looked like me, two-fold – a woman and African-American," Carr said.
As a result, she felt like she had few places to turn.
"I knew every time I got through playing basketball, I didn't want to talk to my coaches," Carr explained. "They just ran me or had been yelling at me. I don't want to talk to them. But when I go over to the academic place, there were men, and I didn't want to talk to them either. There were things about me that I didn't want to share with a guy. So, you look at that and it was like, if there were women, I could talk if maybe I just broke up with a boyfriend or I'm just having a bad day. My coach wouldn't understand that, but there was nobody for me to talk to."
It all put Carr on course to become the tremendous influencer she's been for the last three decades.
Former MSU assistant athletic director of academics Ray Berryhill helped guide Carr into the world of academic advising.
"[Berryhill] started showing me and teaching me how to do stuff," Carr said. "He really and truly helped me. When I started my masters work, I was tutoring athletes in the building, then finished my masters and got hired and I was working with football."
Eventually, Carr began advising female student-athletes and being the sounding board for them that she never really had. Carr's career progressed from there as she climbed the ladder in collegiate athletics and took on more and more responsibilities.
After her short stint at Southern Miss, Carr came back to MSU and added to her plate. She took on student-athlete development and several other tasks. In June of 2006, Carr was promoted to Associate Athletic Director and Senior Woman Administrator. The elevations continued in the years that followed landing Carr in her current role.
The constant through it all has been Carr's drive to help others. She helps current Bulldogs prepare for life after college as she oversees events like Networking Night where student-athletes can swap resumes and meet with potential employers.
She's always looking to provide opportunities for anyone willing to take advantage.
"It doesn't even bother me if a lot of people don't come," Carr said. "You put the programs on for whoever shows up. That's what you're supposed to do. You just have to keep putting the programs on and kids will come. You're supposed to provide service for the students. But if you stop doing it, then the one kid that would've shown up, you just took that opportunity away from that student by not doing it."
Carr even helps Bulldogs after they're gone. There's a program called Bulldogs Back on Track that helps former student-athletes return and finish their degrees.
"They don't get that degree for whatever reason, but they come back and get it and graduate," Carr said. "They're always very appreciative that someone remembered them."
There is no telling how many lives have been positively changed because of Carr. Many are fortunate to have crossed paths with her and her selfless attitude that's constantly valuing others.
"I don't mind sweeping, and I don't mind hanging the stars because I think I can do them both, and I think I can do them both great," Carr said. "The janitor is just as great to me as the president is to me. I think that's another reason why I can fit in anywhere at Mississippi State because I believe I'm a true person of what Mississippi State embodies. We're down to earth people."
That's another thing that'll likely never change, especially if Carr has any say in it. She'll keep on being a bright light for everyone at MSU and State will keep on being the canvas for all of her positive work.
"I don't know if I could've done all the things that I've been able to do at Mississippi State someplace else," Carr said.