ANCHORAGE - University of Alaska Anchorage athletic director Dr. Steve Cobb announced Tuesday that Ryan McCarthy has been hired as the Seawolves' women's basketball coach.

McCarthy comes to UAA from Great Northwest Athletic Conference rival Northwest Nazarene, where he served in a variety of coaching roles since 2007. In all, he spent five seasons at NNU - as an assistant, interim head coach and associate head coach - following a professional basketball career in Oregon and Europe.

"I would like to thank Dr. Cobb and the UAA administration for the opportunity to lead such a special program," said McCarthy. "Having grown up in Alaska, I take great pride in representing this institution and welcome the challenge of building on the winning tradition of the women's basketball team. My family and I are excited to become part of Seawolf Nation."

"We are delighted Coach McCarthy is joining the Seawolf family," said Dr. Cobb. "Within the GNAC, he has experienced success as a player, assistant coach and as a head coach. He has worked very hard to prepare himself for the opportunity to lead a program. He is familiar with Alaska, our program and our players individually.

"Coach McCarthy's personal and professional reputation is very well known to us and throughout the conference. We are confident that we now have the right leader for our exceptional women's basketball program."

After helping NNU to a 56-27 record as assistant coach from 2007-10, McCarthy stepped up as acting head coach in 2010-11 while Kelli Lindley took a leave of absence. He led the Crusaders to a 14-13 overall record that season, including a 9-9 mark in conference play and a bid to the GNAC postseason tournament.

Following Lindley's return in 2011-12, McCarthy was named associate head coach and helped pilot NNU to an 18-10 season and another GNAC Tournament appearance.

Professionally, McCarthy played for Tus Bramsche in Bramsche, Germany, in 2006-07, where he led the league in three-pointers and free throw percentage. He spent 2006 with the Central Oregon Hotshots of the International Basketball League, averaging 16 points, four assists and four rebounds per game.

A 4-year starter and 3-year captain for the Crusaders from 2002-06, McCarthy was named NNU's Orrin Hills Male Athlete of the Year for 2005-06. He ranks third in program history with 256 treys over his career after becoming the GNAC's all-time single-season leader with 102 three pointers in 2005-06. Overall he posted 1,161 career points for the Crusaders.

Most recently McCarthy helped organize a basketball camp in Point Hope with Jeff Kinneeveauk.

With UAA, McCarthy inherits a Seawolf program that has reached six straight NCAA Division II Tournaments, including three trips to the Elite Eight and a pair of Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular-season and postseason tournament titles. The Seawolves went 30-5 in 2011-12 and finished with a No. 7 national ranking.