Berube brings experience to young women's bball team

Carla Berube is anything but a typical Div III basketball coach. Though only a few months into her job at Tufts, the 27-year old now coaches the game she played at the highest level. After leading her high school team in Oxford, Mass. to a 50-0 combined record and consecutive state championships, Berube elected to play college ball down the road in Storrs, Conn., where a dynamic young coach named Geno Auriemma was attempting to build a successful program.

"I had no idea where the UCONN program would be today when I decided to play there," Berube said. "They had been to a Final Four in '91, but it wasn't the dominant powerhouse it is now. My mother went there, it's a great school with great academics, and when I met the team I knew it would be right for me."

In her sophomore season, Berube was the first woman off the bench for the Huskies, who navigated through a magical 35-0 season, and a National Championship. Berube averaged 8.5 points per game and nearly five rebounds. She was an integral part of a team that is credited with elevating woman's college basketball to new levels, and paving the way for the WNBA.

"The season was like a whirlwind for us," Berube said. "We started getting so much press who wanted to talk to us. ESPN did specials. We never thought about taking a step forward for women's basketball, we just thought about our next game, making sure we were prepared. I think we just related well and it was a great story."

Though UCONN advanced to the Final Four once more during Berube's career there, the team never equaled the heights reached by the 94-95 squad.

Berube joined the New England Blizzard of the ABL after graduation, which is where she first recognized the desire to coach the game she loved.

"I can't say I always wanted to coach," Berube said. "I always loved all parts of basketball, and after the ABL, I decided to stick with it. I had such great coaches during my time playing, I wanted to give back."

After one season of playing for the Blizzard, Berube's next stop was Providence College, where for two seasons she served as an assistant coach. Though the team only managed a 13-15 record last season, it cemented Berube's coaching aspirations.

"Providence was a great experience," Berube said. "I fell in love with coaching, it made me realize that I wanted to be a head coach, so when Tufts opened up, it was a perfect situation," she said. "As an assistant you give input but you have to go along with another coach's system. I didn't talk much during practices at Providence. It's a lot different here."

Though Tufts competitions are far away from the sold out arenas, screaming fans, and television camera crews to which she became accustomed during her playing days, Berube feels the basketball climate in the NESCAC is ideal.

"At Tufts there's a great balance of life and academics," she said. "When I played, between our court time practicing and our time in the weight room, we were committed seven or eight hours a day. Here, you practice hard for a few hours every day, but there's so much more to the college life and experience."

Berube is certainly excited to apply her system to a young group of players eager to put last season's underachieving and disappointing campaign behind them.

"I'm a demanding coach," Berube said. "I make them talk a lot on the court. Communication is vital to winning basketball. Right now, we're in a feeling out period, but my philosophy is having a great time playing the game we love and getting the most out of each other. College basketball is great and so is competition."