Princeton University Athletics
Richard Barron Named Women's Basketball Coach
May 08, 2001 | Women's Basketball
May 8, 2001
Richard Barron, who inherited a program that had not had a winning record in a decade and led it to a conference championship and national ranking within five years, has been named head women's basketball coach at Princeton University.
Barron comes to Princeton from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn., where he had a 77-48 record in five years. His 2000-01 team went 18-7, won the first conference championship in school history and was ranked as high as 12th nationally in Division III. His last three teams had the three highest single-season win totals in school history, including a record 20 wins in 1999-2000.
"We're absolutely delighted to identify a coach with such an outstanding academic and coaching background," says Princeton Director of Athletics Gary Walters. "Richard has a proven record of success. Most importantly, he will be able to bring together different constituencies on campus in support of the women's basketball program."
Barron, 32, took over at the University of the South (also know as Sewanee) in 1996 and immediately led the Tigers to their first winning season in 10 years. Prior to that he had served as an assistant coach with the men's team at Sewanee for four years. He is a 1991 graduate of Kenyon. "There is a great deal of pride at Princeton University," Barron says. "It's tangible. You see it when you're there. Princeton means excellence, and there is every expectation for excellence in the women's basketball program as well. I was very impressed with Gary Walters' vision for athletics at Princeton. I look forward to working with him, the other members of the athletic department and especially the brightest, most talented student-athletes in the country."
Princeton went 2-25 last year under interim coach Kevin Morris, who took over the program in the late summer. The Tigers graduate just one senior, Jessica Munson, and the team will be led next year by a trio of juniors, second-team All-Ivy selection Maureen Lane, Lee Culp and Allison Cahill.
Under Barron, the University of the South led the nation in three-pointers made each of the past two years, including 8.4 per game this past season. The Tigers also led the nation in scoring offense in 1999-2000 and were 11th last year at 77.6 points per game.
"I like to get up and down the court," Barron says. "Obviously personnel dictates what you can do, but Princeton has players who can shoot the three well. We'll have to see."
Barron's team last year finished the season ranked second of 64 teams in the NCAA South Region, and he coached Michelle Chambers to several All-America teams. Another member of his Sewanee team, Jen Bulkeley, was named the NCAA Woman of the Year from the state of Tennessee and an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship winner. Bulkeley, who also won a Fulbright Scholarship and was a Rhodes scholar runner-up, will begin graduate study at Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School this fall.
"He's a class act," Walters says. "He's an institutional fit who can manage the many dimensions of the program. He rebuilt the program at the University of the South, and every reference spoke of him in sterling terms."
Barron lived in Florida until he was 12 before moving to Knoxville, Tenn. He majored in biology at Kenyon, from which he graduated cum laude after being a Dean's List student every semester. He also played basketball and baseball in college.
In addition to his basketball coaching responsibilities at Sewanee, he also served at various times as an assistant football coach, assistant field hockey coach, sports information director and a physical education instructor.
He has also been a floor coach at the combines for the American Basketball League women's professional league and the director of the basketball camp at the University of Virginia.
Barron has completed three marathons.
"I'd only been to Princeton one other time, 10 years ago," he says. "That visit stuck with me. It's gorgeous. It's Princeton. I can't wait."
Richard Barron
Career Coaching Record
University of the South
1996-97 13-12
1997-98 11-14
1998-99 15-10
1999-2000 20-5
2000-01 18-7
Total 77-48