When University of Connecticut women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma heard that Carla Berube won the NESCAC Coach of the Year award last week, he sent flowers to congratulate her on the accomplishment.
Although Auriemma watched Berube make her initial stamp on the basketball world while playing for UConn from 1993-97, she has come a long way since then.
Despite finishing up her playing career in the late '90s, Berube never really divorced herself from the game. Since 2000, she has worked towards establishing herself as one of the region's elite coaches, and it only took a few years before people began to recognize her ability to lead from the sidelines. Berube's efforts finally materialized in a NESCAC Coach of the Year award announced last week.
"Coming from a Division I school, she had a different mentality about coaching," said senior Taryn Miller-Stevens, who played under Berube for four years. "And when she got to Tufts, while she had initial success, there was definitely a transition process. She realized that in being a coach at the Division III level, you have to have a more personal relationship with players. And this year especially, she has done a great job communicating her vision."
In her fifth season at the helm of the program, Berube's development as a coach manifested itself in the form of an 18-8 overall record, which edged her career total to 77-44. But it was the team's 8-1 mark and historic postseason run in NESCAC competition that earned her the attention of coaches around the league.
In characteristic Berube fashion, she is quick to attribute the success to her support staff of players and coaches.
"I truly believe it's not Coach of Year - it's staff of the year," Berube said. "I wouldn't have received this award if I didn't have the help of assistant coaches, specifically the addition of [graduate assistant] Kate Gluckman this year. It's very rewarding that the NESCAC coaches recognized us and the year we had."
Regardless of the help she has received, the former Husky has exhibited some of the leadership skills that made her famous while playing during Connecticut's heyday. Although continually performing in front of a packed crowd of 10,000-plus fans at the Div. I level is a different reality to the competitions held in Cousens, to Berube, basketball is basketball no matter how you slice it.
"The way I learned to play at Connecticut has a lot to do with the way I coach now," she said. "My players think I'm crazy when I tell them we have had similar experiences. It's about being part of something bigger, about everyone pulling for each other, pushing past the goals we set for ourselves, and doing the small things in practice. It's the strong bonds and the relationships you will have for the rest of your life.
"I really want to try to mirror that as much as possible," she said. "It's still the same kind of experience. I think I'm passionate about the game, and that came from playing. I want [my players] to work hard in the way I worked hard at UConn."
Between playing in the American Basketball League (ABL) from 1997-98 and signing on as the Providence College assistant coach in August 2000, Berube was never able to separate herself from the basketball court.
"Actually, after UConn I wanted to get away from basketball for a while because it had been my existence," she said. "I did some volunteer work in California, but I wanted to get back into it - I got the itch for basketball."
Apparently, basketball had the itch for her, too, as she beat out a pool of nearly 100 applicants to win Tufts' head coaching position in the summer of 2002. And while mentoring a successful team in the NESCAC is not always an easy job with perennially dominant teams like Bowdoin standing in the way, she has seen only one sub-.500 finish during her five years as a Jumbo - certainly a testament to her knowledge, work ethic and passion for the game.
"She's really knowledgeable of the game, and I think she has started to develop a good relationship with her team and understand how each player responds differently," sophomore Kim Moynihan said. "We're really proud of her, and this was a great reflection on what the team accomplished this year."
Through all the experience and all the success, Berube never forgets to remind her players of the three most important things: "Play hard, play smart, and have fun."
Evidently, she hasn't forgotten those lessons, either.
