UIC Athletics

Kara Rawls, a rising star in the coaching profession following a successful playing career is set to enter her third season as an Assistant Coach of Ashleen Bracey's staff for the 2026-27 season.

In the 2025-26 season, Rawls contributed to UIC maintaining a 14-18 overall record with a 9-11 record against Missouri Valley Conference opponents.

She played a role in the development of Jessica Carrothers and Julia Coleman. Carrothers finished her lone season as the first member of the program to be named to the All-Missouri Valley Conference First Team, averaging 18 points per game (fourth in conference). She also joined Coleman as a member of the All-MVC Newcomer Team.

In the 2024-25 season, Rawls helped the Flames go 15-18 in the season, 10-10 in conference play and a third consecutive postseason berth, with a bid to the 2025 WNIT Hosting in the first round against UAB, the Flames secured its first home postseason victory with a 63-48 win over the Blazers. 

Rawls joins Chicago's College Team after three seasons at UAB (2022-24), where she most recently served as assistant coach and helped the Blazers reach the 2024 WNIT following two years as the program's director of operations. Last season, Rawls played an integral role in guiding Mia Moore and Denim DeShields to third-team American Athletic Conference honors, with Moore also named to the AAC All-Newcomer Team.
 
Along with her on-court coaching, Rawls' primary responsibilities at UAB included coordinating the team's travel arrangements, overseeing film exchange, supervising the managerial staff, running summer camps and coordinating the Blazers' public service initiatives.
 
Before her stint in Birmingham, Rawls was an assistant coach for two seasons at Middle Georgia State University in Macon, Georgia, where she helped lead the Knights to a 27-17 combined record and the 2020-21 Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) East Division title.
 
Rawls began her coaching career in 2018-19 as an assistant at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama. While there, she contributed to one of the best seasons in program history, helping the Hawks go 22-5 and 13-3 in the USA South Conference to set program records for overall and conference wins during the school's NCAA era.
 
As a player, Rawls competed for UAB from 2015-18, culminating with the 2018 Conference USA regular season championship, the first in program history, a 27-7 record and a trip to the second round of the WNIT. As a senior that season, Rawls appeared in 33 games (starting 28 times) and led the team with 7.8 rebounds per game, while ranking second in field-goal percentage (.550) and adding 6.5 points per game.
 
Before joining UAB, Rawls spent one season (2014-15) at Lawson State Community College in Birmingham, where she made an immediate impact by helping the team win its first Alabama Community College Conference (ACCC) championship. She was also named the most valuable player of the ACCC Tournament and received the school's Perry W. Ward President's Award for women's basketball. Rawls began her collegiate career by redshirting her freshman year at Alabama due to an Achilles injury.
 
A Hoover, Alabama, native, Rawls graduated from UAB with a bachelor's degree in sociology and a master's degree in applied sociology.