What’s next at Old Nassau? Three potential candidates to replace Carla Berube

Last Wednesday, Northwestern women’s basketball named Princeton’s head coach Carla Berube as its next head coach, leaving the Tigers without a leader as the offseason begins.

Both Director of Basketball Operations Lilly Paro and Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator Lauren Dillon followed Berube to Evanston, Ill. Dillon is being named Northwestern’s associate head coach, while Paro will retain the role she held with the Tigers.

After years of sustained success in the Ivy League and beyond, Princeton Director of Athletics John Mack ’00 is tasked with leading a national search to identify the next head coach of the Ivy League’s premier basketball program.

Berube, who replaced outgoing Tigers head coach Courtney Banghart in 2019 following a successful stint at Division III Tufts, built the program on the mantra of “Get Stops.” During her tenure, the program won five Ivy League championships in six years and made the Round of 32 twice, in 2022 and 2023.

With the search underway, here are three names to keep an eye on.

Lauren Gosselin

While Dillon and Paro followed Berube to Northwestern, Associate Head Coach Lauren Gosselin will remain at Old Nassau. A member of Berube’s staff dating back to Tufts, she now emerges as a natural candidate to take over the program.

Gosselin is a graduate of Bentley University, where she was a four-year starter, three-time All-American, and two-year team captain for one of the top Division II programs in the nation. Gosselin graduated as the all-time scorer in program history and capped off her senior year with an undefeated record, en route to becoming the WBCA Division II National Player of the Year.

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After her playing career, Gosselin worked for the NCAA office in a postgraduate program. She then pursued a master’s degree in leadership and administration from Boston College while simultaneously working as a graduate assistant before serving as an assistant in Berube’s final year at Tufts.

Gosselin would offer the program a seamless transition as an internal hire. Her familiarity with the roster, Berube’s system, and the team’s culture would allow for immediate continuity, minimizing disruption during the offseason. Promoting from within would also provide stability for key returning players and help preserve the identity and structure that have defined the program’s recent success. The primary concern, however, is her lack of any head coaching experience at the collegiate level.

Addie Micir ’11

Micir is no stranger to the program, having been a finalist for the Princeton job in 2019 before then-Director of Athletics Mollie Marcoux Samaan ’91 ultimately selected Carla Berube.

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At the time, Micir was an assistant coach under Banghart. Prior to taking the Princeton job for a year, Micir spent five years as the assistant coach at Dartmouth.

She brings the most Division I head coaching experience among the candidates, having led Lehigh University women’s basketball for the past four seasons.

Over the past four seasons at Lehigh, Micir has made a name for herself as a brilliant basketball mind. Her 17 wins in the 2022–23 season were the most wins in program history as a first-year head coach. In the 2024–25 season, the program exceeded expectations when they won both the Patriot League regular season and tournament title, recording a total 27 wins.

Her playing career at Princeton was nothing short of remarkable, as she became the first Tiger to win Ivy League Player of the Year, doing so unanimously in her senior year. She is a part of the 1,000 point-club, a three-time All–Ivy selection, and part of the program’s first ever NCAA squad.

Micir’s candidacy offers a blend of familiarity and proven success. As a former Princeton player, she understands the unique demands of the student-athlete experience and what it takes to succeed within the program’s culture.

Her track record as a Division I head coach further strengthens her case, demonstrating an ability to build and lead a winning program. However, unlike an internal candidate, she has not been involved with the current roster, meaning her hire would likely bring a greater degree of transition as she establishes relationships and implements her own system.

Meg Barber

The final name potentially on the shortlist is Meg Barber. Barber would in many ways represent the most direct parallel to the Berube hire: a highly successful Division III head coach with a track record of building a powerhouse program.

A 2002 New York University graduate, Barber returned to her alma mater in 2018 and has since turned the Violets into one of the sport’s dominant programs. Under her tenure, NYU has won five straight UAA regular-season titles, captured back-to-back Division III national championships in 2024 and 2025, and entered the 2026 postseason chasing a third consecutive title amid a 90-plus game winning streak.

She has also earned back-to-back WBCA Division III Coach of the Year honors and coached the USA Basketball U17 national team to a gold medal in 2024. Before taking over at NYU, Barber built a strong Division I resume as an associate and assistant head coach at William & Mary and Temple University, respectively.

Barber may also represent the riskiest hire of the three. Unlike Gosselin, she would not offer continuity with the current roster, staff, or system, meaning her arrival would likely bring the most significant transition for the program.

And unlike Micir, she is neither a former Princeton assistant nor an alumna who has firsthand experience navigating the unique demands of being a student-athlete at Princeton. While her resume is undeniably strong, her candidacy would require the program to take the biggest leap of faith.

Much like in 2019, Princeton may once again be weighing continuity from within against a candidate with a proven track record of head coaching success elsewhere.

Hayk Yengibaryan is a head News editor emeritus and senior Sports writer for the ‘Prince.’ He is from Glendale, Calif. and typically covers breaking news and profiles. He can be reached at hy5161[at]princeton.edu.

Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.

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