A coach who is used to winning in a big way is joining a program with a long history of doing the same.

Carla Berube, who has done nothing but win as both a college player at the University of Connecticut and for the last 17 years as the head coach at Tufts University, has been named the head coach of women’s basketball at Princeton University, Ford Family Director of Athletics Mollie Marcoux Samaan has announced. Berube has also coached internationally with USA Basketball, leading the U.S. Under-16 national team to a gold medal at the FIBA Americas and the Under-17 national team to a gold medal at the World Championships.

She replaces Courtney Banghart, who left Princeton to take over the head coaching position at the University of North Carolina.

“We are so thrilled to welcome Coach Berube to our Tiger team,” Marcoux Samaan says. “Her track record of success as a national champion player at UConn and as a coach at Tufts and with USA Basketball is truly remarkable. What impressed us most throughout the process, however, were the genuine relationships that she has built with her student-athletes. In addition to her fierce competitiveness, she is fully committed to our most important value of Education Through Athletics and is passionate about helping our amazing student-athletes reach their peak potential on the court, in the classroom and in life. We could not be more excited for the future of Princeton women’s basketball.”

Berube brings a long history of success as both a player and coach to Princeton. She won exactly 80 percent of her games with the Jumbos, going 384-96 in 17 seasons while reaching the NCAA Division III final twice, the Final Four four times and the Sweet 16 nine times, including each of the last eight. In her last seven seasons at Tufts, her record was 197-24, with a winning percentage of .891 during those years.

Berube was the 2015 Pat Summitt Trophy winner as the Division III National Coach of the Year and a three-time regional coach of the year.

The program she is joining has been to the NCAA tournament eight times in the last 10 years, with two WNIT trips as well. Princeton has won seven Ivy League championships in the last 10 years, including the last two, and the Tigers return, among others, two-time Ivy League Player of the Year Bella Alarie and first-team All-Ivy League selection Carlie Littlefield.

“I feel incredibly honored and excited to be the next women’s basketball coach at Princeton University,” Berube says. “I would like to thank Mollie Marcoux Samaan and the search committee for entrusting me with this truly special team and this unparalleled opportunity. Coach Banghart did a remarkable job establishing the program as a perennial powerhouse in the Ivy League, and I am looking forward to building upon the winning tradition of the program on the court, in the classroom and in the community. I am drawn to Princeton’s values and philosophies, evident through Education Through Athletics and the remarkable undergraduate experience, values that directly align with my own. It took a special university like Princeton to incent me to leave Tufts University, the place I’ve called home for the past 17 years. I extend my sincerest gratitude and appreciation to my players, the alumni, and administration at Tufts for an incredible journey as a Jumbo. I can’t wait to get started. Go Tigers!”

Berube is a 1997 UConn grad with a degree in sociology. She scored 1,381 points during her career, and the Huskies were an astonishing 132-8 in her four years, for a winning percentage of .942.

The highlight of her career was the 1995 NCAA championship, which capped a perfect 35-0 season. She played in two Final Fours and also was part of four Big East championships.

After playing professionally in the American Basketball League, Berube began her coaching career as an assistant coach at Providence College before becoming the head coach at Tufts in 2002. During her time there, she coached three NESCAC Players of the Year, three Rookies of the Year, six Defensive Players of the Year and three CoSIDA Academic All-Americas.

She also has coached five All-Americas in the last five years.

Under Berube’s leadership, Tufts reached the Division III championship game in 2016 and 2017. Her final Tufts team went 28-3, won the NESCAC championship and reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament this past winter.

She is a member of the Connecticut Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame and the New England Basketball Hall of Fame. In addition to the 2015 national Coach of the Year honor, Berube is also a three-time regional Coach of the Year, a four-time NESCAC Coach of the Year and a two-time USA Basketball Development Coach of the Year.

Her players have also been active in the community. The Tufts women’s basketball team recently adopted two Team IMPACT teammates ­– a 12-year-old with leukemia and a 15-year-old with sickle cell anemia –partnering with the non-profit organization that works to improve kids’ quality of life and help them experience the camaraderie of collegiate sports. Many of her players have also been Big Sisters to local children.

Carla and her wife, Meghan, are the parents of a son, Parker, and daughter, Brogan. They are expecting their third child any day.

https://goprincetontigers.com/news/2019/5/29/carla-berube-named-head-coach-of-womens-basketball-at-princeton.aspx