Carrie Moore returns to the Ivy League as Harvard’s new women’s basketball coach

Carrie Moore comes to Harvard after two stints at Princeton as assistant coach (2016-19) and director of basketball operations (2008-10) that yielded three Ivy League championships. (Harvard Athletics)

Carrie Moore, a long-time Princeton assistant for Courtney Banghart, was named the fourth coach in the history of Harvard women’s basketball on Tuesday afternoon.  The Western Michigan and Detroit Country Day alum takes over for legendary coach Kathy Delaney-Smith, who presided over the Crimson team for the last 40 years.

“I am so incredibly humbled and excited to be the next head women’s basketball coach at Harvard University,” Moore told Harvard Athletics. “A very special thank you to Coach Kathy Delaney-Smith for building such a tremendous foundation here and for your long history of fighting for women. Congratulations on your retirement. I am absolutely thrilled to lead these incredible young women and move this program forward.”

After finishing her career at Western Michigan as the 2007 Mid-American Conference (MAC) Player of the Year, the 2,216-point scorer and magna cum laude graduate in journalism played professionally for one season in Poland.

In 2008, Moore was hired as the director of basketball operations by then-second year Princeton head coach Banghart.  In year two, the Tigers won the Ivy League title and went to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.

Following that historic season, Moore left to become an assistant coach at Creighton for the next five seasons.  She was replaced as Princeton’s director of operations by Megan Griffith, a future Tigers assistant coach and the present head coach at Columbia whose success there (culminating this season in a WNIT Elite Eight appearance) may have encouraged Harvard to consider another former Princeton assistant.

Moore returned to Old Nassau for the 2015-2016 season, this time as an assistant coach.  During the next four seasons, Princeton won three regular-season championships (2016, 2018, 2019) and two Ivy League Tournament titles (2018, 2019).

Weeks after the end of the 2018-2019 season, Banghart left Princeton to lead the North Carolina Tar Heels and made Moore her first hire.  Around that time, Ivy Hoops Online considered Moore as one of the possible replacements for Banghart at Princeton, a job that went to former Tufts head coach Carla Berube.

“She (Moore) is one of the most respected coaches, recruiters, teachers, and people in this business,” Banghart said at that time.  “She has been a critical teammate with all parts of the Princeton program, and brings talent, compassion, enthusiasm, hard work, knowledge, and authentic care for others to her every day. She is a difference maker and simply put, I’m better when having her by my side. 

After two seasons as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, where Moore helped recruit two top-ten classes, she headed back home to hold the same positions at Michigan.

“Carrie is a star in the business and will help us continue to elevate Michigan women’s basketball,” Michigan head coach Kim Barnes Arico told the Wolverines Athletic Department. “Carrie has shown that she can both recruit the best in the country and develop players to be successful at the highest level.”

In her first year in Ann Arbor, Moore was part of a Michigan team that made it to the Elite Eight in the 2022 NCAA Tournament and helped mentor Naz Hillmon to a spot on the AP All-America First Team.

“I am delighted to welcome Carrie to Harvard!” stated Harvard Athletic Director Erin McDermott. “She (Moore) is poised to be an exceptional leader, mentor and teacher for current and future student-athletes. Carrie emerged from a strong pool given her impressive experiences and her alignment with Ivy League values of education and personal development. She is a true educator-coach and we are fortunate that she is joining the Crimson.”

Harvard will welcome Moore in an introductory press conference at Lavietes Pavilion on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m., but it will not be livestreamed.

1 thought on “Carrie Moore returns to the Ivy League as Harvard’s new women’s basketball coach”

  1. Good hire by harvard. Followed Columbia’s example of picking up an available former member of Courtney Banghart’s coaching team. How long until all Ivy Women’s bball programs have a Princeton connection within their ranks?

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