Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Richard and Maureen Barron to Resign Princeton Head Coaching Positions
May 06, 2007 | Women's Basketball
PRINCETON, N.J. -- Richard Barron, the head coach of women's basketball at Princeton University, has resigned his position to become the associate head coach of women's basketball at Baylor University.
Barron's wife, Princeton head softball coach Maureen Barron, will resign to relocate with her husband.
Richard Barron will join a Baylor staff, under head coach Kim Mulkey, that won the 2005 NCAA Championship and has made four straight NCAA Tournaments.
Both coaches were Ivy League champions during their tenures at Princeton. Richard Barron, who arrived from the University of the South for the 2001-02 season, inherited a team that went 2-25 in the 2000-01 campaign and won the league title in 2005-06.
That season, the women's basketball team set program records for overall and Ivy League victories with a record of 21-7 overall and 12-2 in league play.
Richard Barron coached five players to All-Ivy honors on either the first team, second team or honorable mention during his time at Princeton. In 2006, Princeton had two players, Becky Brown '06 and Meagan Cowher '08, honored on the first-team All-Ivy. It was the first time since 1981 that two of the five first-team positions went to Princeton players.
Four players joined the 17-member 1,000-point club during his tenure, including Maureen Lane '03, Allison Cahill '03, Brown and Cowher. Brown finished her career as the third-leading scorer in Princeton history and Cowher stands 11th on the list with one season to play.
Richard Barron finishes his Princeton career with a record of 74-91 in six seasons. Including his five years at the University of the South, Barron has a record of 152-139 as an NCAA head coach.
Maureen Barron won four Ivy League titles during her seven seasons as head coach. All seven NCAA tournament appearances for the Princeton softball team have featured Barron as a coach or player.
"Princeton is an incredibly special place and I am so fortunate to have had the opportunity to experience it as an undergraduate, working in admissions and most recently as a coach," Maureen Barron said. "My entire Princeton experience truly has been the best years of my life and our decision to move on was extremely difficult. I want to thank Gary Walters for giving me the opportunity to coach at my alma mater. I have been surrounded by extraordinary people who have been immensly influential in my life."
Maureen Barron, then Maureen Davies, helped pitch Princeton into the 1995 and 1996 Women's College World Series, following the program's first NCAA tournament appearance in 1994.
A 1997 Princeton graduate, Maureen Barron became the head coach of the Tigers for the 2000-01 season after serving as a Princeton admissions officer and working as a graduate student at the University of Virginia following her undergraduate career. She was an assistant coach at Princeton for the 2000 season before becoming the head coach with the retirement of longtime mentor Cindy Cohen.
"While we are very excited about our move to Texas and the great opportunity for Richard at Baylor, I am very sad to say goodbye," Maureen Barron said. "This Princeton team, the program and everyone I've worked closely wilth are very special to me and will remain close to my heart. You won't find a bigger Princeton Tiger softball fan than me."
In 2002, Maureen Barron helped lead Princeton to the NCAA tournament for the first time since she was on the team in 1996. The Tigers returned to the NCAAs in 2003, 2005 and 2006.
During her seven-season tenure as head coach, Maureen Barron has helped Princeton players win the Ivy League Player of the Year award twice, the Ivy League Rookie of the Year award three times and the Ivy League Pitcher of the Year award four times. In 2005 and 2006, Princeton pitchers have captured both first-team All-Ivy pitching spots, with Erin Snyder '06 and Kristen Schaus '08.
Following Princeton's recent completion of the 2007 season, Maureen Barron's record as head coach was 196-149-1.
A national search for Richard and Maureen Barron's successors will begin immediately.