Alison McCarthy joined the Bellarmine University women’s basketball staff as an assistant coach/recruiting coordinator in June of 2025.
McCarthy arrived at Bellarmine after being the head coach in 2024-25 at Division III Muskingum (Ohio) University. The year prior, she was the assistant coach/recruiting coordinator at D3 Rose Hulman (Ind.) Institute of Technology.
At Rose Hulman, McCarthy was honored with the WeCOACH Impact Award, which is given to a class member who leads by example, is committed to encouraging others’ success and is unwaveringly dedicated to her own personal and professional achievement. She helped lead the Fightin’ Engineers to a berth in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament.
Before entering the college ranks, McCarthy spent 19 years coaching at the high school level, beginning in 1999 as the head girls’ basketball coach at her alma mater, Holmes (Ky.) High School, before stints at Simon Kenton (Ky.) High School, Beachwood (Ky.) High School and Woodward (Ohio) High School, the latter where she served as the head girls’ basketball coach for four years before another five as a boys’ assistant coach.
McCarthy was inducted into the Holmes High School Hall of Fame in 2017 and the Northern Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame in 2019. She earned varsity letters in volleyball, basketball, softball and track at Holmes and was named MVP of the 1993 9th Region basketball tournament after a 15-point, 13-rebound effort in the championship game.
From 1994-98, McCarthy was a member of the women’s basketball team at Northern Kentucky, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education. Shortly after entering the prep coaching ranks, she guided Holmes to a 9th Region runner-up finish in 2000. She shepherded Beachwood’s girls’ program from 2006-13.
