Alma Mater: NYU ‘02
Seasons as Head Coach: 8 (including 2025-26)
Record at NYU: 150-21
Postseason Appearances: 6 (5 NCAA, 1 ECAC)
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 5 (2025 and 2024 National Champions, 2023 and 2022 Elite Eight, 2020 Second Round)
ECAC Championships: 1 (2019)
UAA Championships: 4 (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)
Meg Barber, who was hired as New York University’s 11
th women’s basketball head coach in June 2018, led her alma mater to back-to-back NCAA Division III National Championships in 2023-24 and 2024-25, defeating Smith College in both title games to cap consecutive 31-0 seasons.
In ‘24-25, NYU led NCAA Division III in average scoring margin (+37.3), field goal percentage (.506), assists per game (21.1), was second in points per game (87.9) and assist/turnover ratio (1.56), and fourth in turnover margin (+10.65).
Overall, Barber’s NYU teams have produced a 150-21 record and qualified for postseason play in each campaign.
Barber, who steered NYU to its fourth consecutive University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship in ’24-25, was named Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division III Coach of the Year and Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) Division III Coach of the Year while she and her assistants were named UAA Coaching Staff of the Year.
The accolades did not end with Barber, as her players received numerous awards. Natalie Bruns earned Player of the Year honors from the WBCA, UAA,
D3hoops.com, and the MBWA for the second consecutive season and established a program record for career blocked shots (328). She also received the NCAA’s Elite 90 Award, the Josten’s Award, and was named College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic Team Member of the Year.
Belle Pellecchia was the UAA Defensive Player of the Year for an unprecedented fourth straight season, earned WBCA and
D3hoops.com All-America honors and was named NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player. She, Bruns and Caroline Peper were also selected First Team All-UAA.
A total of 11 NYU players earned UAA All-Academic honors, with Pellecchia adding CSC Second Team Academic All-America accolades. The Violets also received WBCA All-Academic Team Special Mention.
Following her team’s first championship run in 2023-24, Barber was named
D3hoops.com Coach of the Year and MBWA DIII Coach of the Year while also being a finalist for WBCA Coach of the Year. Barber and her assistants were named UAA Coaching Staff of the Year, and she was selected as head coach of the USA Basketball Women’s U17 National Team which went on to win the gold medal at the FIBA World Cup in July.
During that championship season, the Violets ranked first in NCAA Division III in field goal percentage (.490), third in three-point percentage (37.1), fourth in scoring margin (+26.1), and sixth in both blocks per game (6.2) and assists per game (18.5).
The individual accolades were just as numerous for Barber’s players.
Bruns earned Player of the Year honors from the WBCA, UAA,
D3hoops.com, and the MBWA as she established the team’s season record with 98 blocked shots. Pellecchia was the UAA Defensive Player of the Year while she, Bruns, Megan Bauman, and Morgan Morrison notched First Team All-UAA honors.
Bruns and Morrison were selected WBCA All-Americans, with Pellecchia earning Honorable Mention. Bruns (First Team), Morrison (Second Team) and Pellecchia (Fifth Team) also received
D3hoops.com All-America honors.
Off the court, nine Violets gathered UAA All-Academic honors, four notched CSC Academic All-District awards and Bruns was named to the CSC Academic All-American First Team. NYU also made the WBCA’s Academic Top 25 with the 21
st-highest team GPA in Division III.
In 2022-23, Barber led the Violets to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament and the UAA Championship. NYU opened the season with 11 straight wins and was ranked #1 in the nation by D
3hoops.com and #2 by the WBCA. After dropping two games, the Violets went on a 14-game winning streak before falling to host Transylvania University in the Elite Eight.
Nationally, the Violet finished fourth in assist/turnover ratio (1.27) and blocks per game (6.5), ninth in scoring margin (21.5), 12
th in field goal percentage (44.52) and turnovers per game (12.9), 13
th in winning percentage (89.3), and 16
th in both scoring (75.7) and three-point percentage (33.9).
Barber received a plethora of honors for the team’s performance, including
D3hoops.com Region 4 Coach of the Year, MBWA Division III Coach of the Year and WBCA Coach of the Year Finalist.
Several players also received numerous accolades in ’22-23. Bruns was named a WBCA All-American,
D3hoops.com Region 4 Most Outstanding Player and First Team All-American, UAA Player of the Year, and First Team All-Metropolitan. Pellecchia was selected WBCA All-America Honorable Mention, UAA Defensive Player of the Year,
D3hoops.com Region 4 First Team, and Second Team All-UAA and All-Met. Jenny Walker earned All-UAA and All-Met Second Team honors, while Peper was named both UAA and
D3hoops.com Region 4 Rookie of the Year.
The honors and awards were not limited to on-court activity as 13 players achieved UAA All-Academic and four earned CSC Academic All-District with Walker being tabbed CSC Second Team and Bruns Third Team CSC Academic All-Americans.
In 2021-22, the Violets went 25-2 overall, winning the UAA Championship with a near-perfect 13-1 record, and advancing to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. NYU ranked among the nation’s leaders with a .926 winning percentage (tied for 7th), 44.8 field goal percentage (8
th), 5.6 blocks per game (tied for 11
th), 74.8 free throw percentage (12
th), 150 blocks (tied for 13
th), +20.4 scoring margin (14
th), and 33.8 three-point percentage (18
th).
For her efforts, Barber was named Coach of the Year by the WBCA,
D3hoops.com (Region 4), Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC), and the MBWA, while she and her assistants were named UAA Coaching Staff of the Year.
Barber’s players also earned hardware for their performances. Walker was selected UAA and ECAC Player of the Year while also earning
D3hoops.com Fifth Team All-America honors. Pellecchia was named
D3hoops.com National Rookie of the Year, UAA and ECAC Rookie of the Year, UAA Defensive Player of the Year, and First Team All-UAA. Both Bruns and Jordan Janowski were Second Team All-UAA selections.
The players’ excellence was not confined to the hardwood as 11 team members earned UAA All-Academic honors, Walker earned the Martin Luther King Jr. Student-Athlete Award and Dahlia Miranda Monteiro was chosen for an Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar Award.
NYU did not compete in 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, 13 team members earned UAA All-Academic honors. Janean Cuffee received the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Student-Athlete Award for the second consecutive year and was named First Team College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District 3.
In 2019-20, Barber led the Violets to a 21-6 overall record and a second-place, 10-4 finish in the UAA. NYU qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016, defeating Emmanuel College in the first round before falling to host Bowdoin College in the second.
That squad set several team records under Barber’s direction, including the most three-pointers made (17) and attempted (41) in a game and in a season (275, 781), as well as highest one-season free throw percentage (76.5). Individually, Annie Barrett set the Violets’ one-season (202) and career (435) assists records, while Brooklyn Shelton led NCAA Division III and set NYU’s one-season free throw percentage record (.992).
Awards were aplenty for Barber’s players, as Cuffee was selected MBWA Division III Player of the Year,
D3hoops.com First Team All-East Region, First Team All-UAA, All-ECAC First Team, and NYU’s Female Junior Scholar Athlete of the Year. Barrett received UAA Co-Defensive Player of the Year and Second Team honors, as well as
D3hoops.com Second Team All-East Region, All-ECAC Honorable Mention and Third Team All-Met accolades. Walker was also a Second Team All-UAA selection.
For her efforts, Barber was named ECAC Division III Coach of the Year, MBWA DIII Coach of the Year, and was a WBCA DIII National Coach of the Year Finalist.
Barber’s players also fared well off the court as nine team members earned UAA All-Academic honors and Barrett was selected CoSIDA All-Academic District 3. The Violets were also cited as a WBCA All-Academic Team, sporting the 16
th-highest cumulative GPA in Division III.
In her inaugural season at the helm, Barber led the Violets to a 17-10 overall record, a 6-8 mark in the UAA and to the postseason ECAC Championship. She recorded her first UAA victory when the Violets defeated Carnegie Mellon University 72-64 in Pittsburgh, PA, on January 13, 2019. The season culminated in an 82-74 victory over host Cabrini University in the ECAC Championship Game.
A 2002 NYU graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics, Barber took over the reins of the women’s basketball program possessing a wealth of college coaching experience.
In her most recent position before returning to NYU, Barber served as an assistant coach at NCAA Division I Temple University from 2012-16. In her four seasons there, Barber helped lead the Owls to consecutive 20-win seasons and berths in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) in 2015 and 2016.
Prior to Temple, Barber also worked at the Division I level as the Associate Head Coach at The College of William & Mary from 2005-12. She oversaw all recruiting efforts for The Tribe, who produced the largest Division I turnaround in the nation from the year before she arrived (5-24 in 2004-05) to 16-13 in her first season (2005-06). The following season, Barber helped lead the team to a 20-win season (20-12).
During her seven years at William & Mary, Barber helped develop Kyra Kaylor, the Colonial Athletic Conference (CAA) Player of the Year in 2006, Taysha Pye, a four-time All-CAA selection (2009-12), and Tiffany Benson, the CAA’s all-time leading shot blocker.
A four-year member of the Violets who is 12
th on the team’s all-time scoring list with 1,228 points, Barber served as a captain during her senior campaign and was twice selected First Team All-UAA. She was also named First Team All-ECAC and Second Team
D3hoops.com All-Region in 2002. The Violets earned postseason berths all four seasons,
including two NCAA Tournament Elite Eight appearances and two NY/NJ ECAC Championships. NYU rose to #1 in the national rankings during the 2000-01 season and posted an overall record of 93-18 during her career.
Barber, who went on to earn a Master of Science degree in Sports Business in 2015 from Temple was also a Candidate for Juris Doctor at the Temple University Beasley School of Law prior to returning to NYU.
A native of Hoosick Falls, NY, Barber currently resides in Brooklyn, NY.
BARBER’S YEAR-BY-YEAR RECORDS
| Year |
Overall |
UAA |
| 2018-19 |
17-10 |
6-8 |
| 2019-20 |
21-6 |
10-4 |
| 2020-21* |
----- |
----- |
| 2021-22 |
25-2 |
13-1 |
| 2022-23 |
25-3 |
12-2 |
| 2023-24 |
31-0 |
14-0 |
| 2024-25 |
31-0 |
14-0 |
| TOTALS |
150-21 (.877) |
69-15 (.821) |
* Season canceled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic
