Basketball has been good to Chris Carlson and his family.

He’s built a career in the sport, first as a player at Truman State University in Missouri, then as a coach starting in 1988 with various stops in the Northwest.

“My first coaching job was at Eastern Oregon as a men’s assistant in 1988,” Carlson said. “I was a men’s assistant for a few years and the women’s assistant asked me to help out a few times, and that’s really what got me started in it. I went and got my master’s degree and the job in Moses Lake (at Big Bend Community College) came up, so I took that and was there for eight years.”

It was during that time, Carlson’s life changed forever.

“I was the head coach at Big Bend, and Carey (Carlson) was the JV coach at Central (Washington) at the time,” Carlson said. “We ended up playing each other a few times, and she came back to Big Bend to play in an alumni game, and we got to know each other a little bit. The next summer, she got a job working in the Upward Bound program on campus (in Moses Lake), so we got to know each other, and then — gosh — it was just a couple of years later, we got married. We came to Idaho, she went to Post Falls as an assistant and I was at Eastern Washington for a while and then the NIC job came open.”

Chris and Carey took over the NIC women’s basketball program in 2004, replacing Greg Crimp.

Tonight’s game — on Chris’ 60th birthday — will be his last home game as Cardinals head coach, as Carlson announced his resignation earlier this week, effective at the end of the season, which for NIC will include the Northwest Athletic Conference tournament starting next weekend.

Nina Carlson is a junior on the University of Idaho women’s basketball team, and James is a sophomore on the NIC men’s basketball team. The couple’s youngest child, Jordan, is in fifth grade.

“The opportunity and timing of NIC — in their overhaul of some departments — offered buyouts to a lot of people that qualified,” Carlson said. “You had to be over 55 and had worked for the school for 15 years. I fit in, and started to think about it a little bit. Nina is going to be a senior next year, and I want to see her play as much as I can. I’ve probably been to about 20 percent of those games in the last few years. And it’s fun, and they’re good. With James, he’s going to be off playing again somewhere because he’s being recruited pretty good, so we’ll go watch him play. And I’ll be 60 (Wednesday), and if you do the buyout, I’ll have a salary for up to a year, and by then, I’ll be dang near 62. I’ve got a good retirement set up. I don’t feel like I’m retiring, but the timing was almost perfect.”

Under Carlson, NIC won the NJCAA title in 2011 and helped guide the Cardinals to appearances at nationals in 2009, 2010 and 2013.

Carlson is 354-158 in 16 seasons at NIC. For his career, Carlson has 471 wins between NIC and his eight seasons as head coach at Big Bend, including the Vikings’ NWAC chammpionship in 1999.

“When I look back, the national title was the crowning thing,” Carlson said. “Sometimes, I can’t quite believe that we did it because it was kind of groundbreaking in the Scenic West Athletic Conference because we’re still the only team in the conference to have won a national title. That five-year period was the best because we took three different teams to nationals and dominated the conference for that stretch of years. In the one year we didn’t make it to nationals, we were ranked No. 1 for a good part of the season. During that stretch, we were on top of our game and things were flowing really good, and that was amazing.”

NIC assistant coach Korina Baker was the starting point guard on the 2011 team for NIC, her freshman year.

“I didn’t know much about him or his program,” Baker said of the recruiting process. “I knew him through Eastern Washington as far as Wendy Schueller was looking for a player, and my grades weren’t up to par. So Chris and Carey welcomed me in. Playing for them for two years was probably the best experience I’ve had. I’ve said on multiple occasions that I wished NIC was a four-year program, because I would have stayed four or five years when I was a college student. I would have stayed and played for whatever was allowed.”

Baker became an assistant starting with the 2018-19 season, when Carey stepped down to focus on her teaching duties at NIC.

“They called and asked if I’d be interested in coming back, and what I felt about coaching,” said Baker, who went on to play at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. “I told them if the job was right, I’d come back. At the time, I was a stay-at-home mom, so when the job opened, I turned in my resume and paperwork, and here we are.”

Baker added she’s learned a lot in her short time as a coach alongside Chris.

“He’s an amazing coach,” Baker said. “As a player, and now a co-worker, he gets the game and understands it. He’s very knowledgeable and knows what’s he’s doing. When I came on, I figured I’d get to work with him for another 10 years. I didn’t think it would be two. I’m sad to see him leave, but wish him the best.”

Corey Symons, in his sixth season as head men’s basketball coach at NIC, was hired as a Cardinal assistant in 2004, the same year Carlson came to Coeur d’Alene.

“Watching him and Carey run their program and win at a high level with such class and hard work, it’s going to be tough for the NIC community to lose him,” Symons said. “He’s done some amazing things. We wish him the best, but it’s going to be hard to be around this gym without him.”

NIC has qualified for the Northwest Athletic Conference Championships three straight seasons (2018, 2019 and 2020) after not making it in its first season after moving from the NJCAA.

“It’s awesome, it really is,” Carlson said. “This team, we’ve got going right now, it’s a fun group. I enjoy coaching them, so I’m looking forward to getting back to that tournament.”

NIC (16-10, 10-5 NWAC) hosts Columbia Basin (8-19, 5-10) to conclude the regular season tonight at 5:30. With a win, and loss by Wenatchee Valley at Yakima Valley, the Cardinals could move up to the third seed from the East Region.

“We’ve got four sophomores that have been amazing over the last two years that have given their heart and soul, so we want to honor them after our game,” Carlson said.

Chris and Carey coached together at NIC until the 2018-19 season.

“Just the opportunity to coach with Carey here at the college has been phenomenal,” Carlson said. “Basketball has been a big part of my life, obviously I met my wife through basketball, made a living through it and raised our kids. We were able to take our kids on some of those (Scenic West) road trips, whatever it cost, and they’ve grown found of basketball. Nina is at a great program, and for James — this might be the all-time winningest program over two years that Corey is going to have — to be a part of that run with the guys that are here like Alphonso (Anderson, now at Utah State) and Nate (Pryor), it’s been a blessing. I feel blessed, and for us to be able to come to NIC and raise our family here and work for the college and graduate the kids we have to higher programs, it’s been everything we could hope for.”

And Carlson hasn’t closed the door on returning to coaching again in a few years.

“I feel like I could chase my kids around for a year,” Carlson said. “And who knows, I’ve already had people calling me. I think I’ll be back somewhere, and up for a new challenge at some point. I’ve got my little guy (Jordan), who’s in fifth grade. And he’s tearing it up and learning so much from his brother. He’s going into junior high, and I’m excited to hang out with him. I just want to take a step back and don’t want to think about doing anything next year but coaching Jordan, watching James and watching Nina. I really don’t want to miss any of that stuff. You can go on a great run, win a national championship or NBA title,” Carlson said. “But when that goes away, all that’s left is your family. I’m not running off to make $100,000. I want to enjoy the opportunity that NIC has given me, enjoy my family and my kids.”