Northwestern hires Carla Berube as next women's basketball coach

Northwestern basketball has named a successor for Joe McKeown.

NU has hired Carla Berube as its next women's basketball coach, who comes to Evanston after a stellar tenure at Princeton where she turned the Tigers into a perrenial Ivy League champion and NCAA Tournament participant.

What we know:

Berube led Prince to five consecutive NCAA Tournament berths. Before her time at Princeton, she built Tufts University into a Division III power where she led Tufts to eight Division III NCAA Tournament appearances in a row.

Berube has also won at nearly every level, as she was a point guard for Geno Auriemma's first national title with UConn in 1995.

At Princeton, she's won over 140 games and hasn't lost more than 30. Princeton was consistently ranked in the AP top 25.

In the 2025-2026 season, Berube led Princeton to a 26-4 overall record and 12-2 record in conference play. The Tigers finished at the top of the Ivy League standings and won Berube's fourth Ivy League Tournament title.

In 2025, the Ivy League was a three-bid league in the NCAA Tournament as Harvard, Columbia, and Princeton all earned tournament berths. Berube was part of that successful run in helping lift an entire conference.

Berube was a highly sought-after candidate for jobs in this head coaching cycle, which included Penn State and Rutgers before and included Alabama earlier this week.

"We are going to embrace that challenge and build a team that competes with pride and goes to battle for one another every night," Berube said in a statement. "Thank you to Mark Jackson, President Henry Bienen and the entire search committee for their belief in me. My family and I are truly excited to join the Northwestern Wildcats family!"

Berube will succeed Joe McKeown, who coached Northwestern women's basketball to heights like the 2020 Big Ten regular season title and two NCAA Tournament appearances. 

What they're saying:

"When we launched a national search months ago with our outstanding search committee, we set forth with three goals in mind," Jackson said. "First, we needed to find someone who was aligned with our culture at Northwestern. Second, a proven winner with NCAA Tournament experience. And lastly, someone who could navigate an elite academic environment in the most competitive athletic conference in the country. Carla Berube delivers on all fronts. Equally as important, we found a leader with a rare combination of fierce competitiveness, humility and the ability to develop players and people with compassion and dedication. We are thrilled to welcome Carla and her family to Northwestern." 

"I’m incredibly honored to join the women’s basketball program at Northwestern University," Berube said in a statement. "This is a place where academic and athletic excellence go hand in hand, and I’m excited to build a championship culture that reflects that standard. Competing in the Big Ten Conference requires toughness, discipline, and a relentless commitment to growth."