From Massachusetts high school star to one of the most respected coaches in women’s basketball.
Carla Berube’s basketball journey has taken her from a small town in Massachusetts to some of the biggest stages in college basketball. She won as a player and a coach, building successful programs at every stop. Whether it was high school in Massachusetts, a national championship at UConn, years of dominance at Tufts, Ivy League success at Princeton or her newest challenge at Northwestern, Berube has consistently found ways to elevate the teams around her.
Berube grew up in Oxford, Massachusetts, where she first fell in love with basketball. She started playing at a young age, often competing with her older brother and kids in the neighborhood. By the time she reached high school, she had become one of the top players in the state.
At Oxford High School, Berube helped lead the team to two state championships and established herself as a standout player known for her toughness, leadership and basketball IQ. Even then, she had the style that would later define her teams as a coach: disciplined, team-oriented and competitive.
Her success in Massachusetts led her to the University of Connecticut, where she played for legendary coach Geno Auriemma from 1993 to 1997. At the time, UConn was becoming one of the best programs in the country, but it had not yet won a national championship. Berube became part of the group that changed that forever and started the Huskies dominance.
During her four years with the Huskies, UConn went 132-8. Berube scored 1,381 career points and helped lead the team to the 1995 national championship, the first of many for the Huskies. That 1994-95 team went undefeated at 35-0 and helped launch UConn into the dynasty it would later become. Berube was one of the key players on that team and remained an important leader throughout her career, eventually becoming a captain her senior year.
Berube has often spoken about how much she learned from Auriemma, especially when it came to defense and accountability. Early in her career, Auriemma challenged her to improve defensively, and by her senior season, she was regularly assigned to guard the other team’s best player. That experience helped shape the defensive identity she later brought to her own teams.
After graduating from UConn, Berube played professionally for the New England Blizzard in the American Basketball League. She spent two seasons there before the league shut down in 1999. Although her professional playing career was relatively short, it gave her another level of experience before she moved into coaching.
Her coaching career officially began in 2000 when she became an assistant coach at Providence College. She spent two years there, learning the profession before getting her first head coaching opportunity at Tufts University in 2002. At Tufts, Berube built one of the best Division III programs in the country.
Over 17 seasons, she led the Jumbos to a 384-96 record, multiple Final Four appearances and two appearances in the national championship game. She became the winningest coach in program history and helped turn Tufts into a nationally respected basketball school. In 2015, she was named NCAA Division III National Coach of the Year.
Tufts teams under Berube were known for relentless defense, discipline and unselfish basketball. Her players consistently talked about how prepared they felt and how much she cared about them beyond basketball. She created a culture where expectations were high, but relationships mattered too.
During her time at Tufts, Berube also built a strong reputation nationally through USA Basketball. In 2017, she coached the United States U16 women’s team to a gold medal and in 2018 she led the U17 national team to another gold medal at the world championships. Those experiences helped show that her success could translate beyond Division III basketball.
In 2019, Berube took the biggest leap of her career when she left Tufts to become the head coach at Princeton after longtime coach Courtney Banghart departed for the University of North Carolina. Many wondered whether a coach coming from Division III could immediately succeed in Division I. Berube answered that question right away.
In her very first season at Princeton, the Tigers went 29-1, finished undefeated in Ivy League play and won the Ivy League championship. Berube was named Ivy League Coach of the Year.
Over the next several years, Princeton became one of the most successful programs outside the Power Four conferences. Berube finished with a 147-29 record, won five Ivy League championships and led the Tigers to five NCAA Tournament appearances in six seasons. Her teams consistently won 20 or more games and developed players who eventually reached the WNBA.
Among the players she coached at Princeton were Bella Alarie, Abby Meyers and most notably, Kaitlyn Chen. Berube became known for developing players who were smart, skilled and team-first. Princeton’s style under her reflected many of the same qualities that defined her own playing career: strong defense, ball movement, toughness and consistency.
By the time Berube decided to leave Princeton in 2026, she had firmly established herself as one of the top coaches in women’s basketball. Northwestern hired her to become the seventh coach in program history. The move represented another major step in her career because it would be her first opportunity to coach in a Power Four conference and compete in the Big Ten. Northwestern has struggled in recent years, but school officials believe Berube’s background in high-level academics and program building made her the perfect fit.
Berube has said she sees Northwestern as a place where she can build something long-term. She has talked openly about wanting to establish roots there and create a championship culture built on toughness, discipline and growth. She knows success in the Big Ten will take time, but she has made it clear that she is ready for the challenge.
At every level, she has taken programs and pushed them forward. She helped UConn win its first national title. She turned Tufts into a Division III powerhouse. She made Princeton one of the best programs in the country outside the major conferences. Now, she has the opportunity to do the same thing at Northwestern.
For a coach who started in a small Massachusetts town, Carla Berube has built one of the most impressive careers in women’s basketball.