How 2026 women’s tournament coaches have played in March Madness

Each NCAA tournament affords players a chance to make a name for themselves on the biggest stage and leave their mark in the tournament’s history books.

For some coaches, it’s also a blast from the past, revisiting their college hoop careers — just now on the sidelines instead of the hardwood.

Twenty-three coaches in the 2026 NCAA women's tournament have competed in either the AIAW or NCAA tournament as a player, with nine reaching the national championship game, five coaching at their alma mater and three pairs of former teammates.

Here’s a look at which college coaches had some of the most decorated resumes in March Madness during their playing careers and the times they were teammates. Below that is a full list of each coach who has played in the tournament.

Coaches who played together 

A common theme amongst the tournament coaches is their familiarity with one another.

This isn’t referring to the many battles as opponents, but as teammates. Multiple coaches shared the hardwood during their collegiate hooping days, whether it be for one season or their entire careers. 

Here are the duos that took the floor with another. 

South Carolina’s Dawn Staley & Rhode Island’s Tammi Reiss — Virginia from 1988-1992

Dawn Staley's Final Four highlights, as a player

Every coach prays for a program-altering player that can propel their program to new heights.

Virginia was blessed with that in the late 90s, landing not just one, but two players to govern its backcourt in Dawn Staley and Tammi Reiss. The tandem, and roommates, took UVA to its only national title game, two Final Fours and a trophy showcase filled to the brim from 1988-1992.

Staley was arguably unstoppable on the hardwood, producing a career comparable to her coaching tenure — a crazy statement to think about considering everything she’s accomplished at South Carolina. ;

To give a snippet, the 5-foot-6 guard averaged 18.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 3.3 steals per game during her freshman season with a Sweet Sixteen appearance. Although the Cavaliers lost in the national championship to Tennessee, 70-67, in overtime, Staley dropped 28 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and three steals — everything but rebounds were team-highs.

She was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player and won consecutive Naismith Player of the Year awards (1991 and 1992).

Every time South Carolina wins a national championship, this picture needs to be posted. I don't make the rules. 🤷‍♂️

This makes it three.

Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley and URI head coach Tammi Reiss. Virginia teammates.

@ABC6 @TReiss32

— Ian Steele (@IanSteeleWMUR)

Reiss had a quieter freshman year than Staley, but made the jump her sophomore year, averaging over 15 points for the next three seasons. Her best campaign came during her senior season, averaging 16.4 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists. 

Over her four-year career, she put together three tournament games with at least 22 points, and ranked first in school history at the time for 3-point field goals made (139) and 3-point field goal percentage (.416) and was second in points (1,842).
 
Princeton’s Carla Berube & Vanderbilt’s Shea Ralph — UConn from 1993-1997, 1996-2001

UConn’s legendary coach Geno Auriemma’s college basketball dominance began three decades ago, thanks to the collection of stars he brought to Storrs, CT, that set the table for the Huskies’ ascension toward stardom. Names like Carla Berube and Shea Ralph played a huge role in making it happen.

Berube touched down on campus in 1993, and like many UConn teams, didn’t know life without the NCAA tournament, reaching at least the Elite Eight all four years. The pinnacle was winning the 1995 national championship, the school and Auriemma’s first, going 35-0. 

She averaged 10 points and 4.9 rebounds at UConn, with highs in points (11.4) and rebounds (4.9) as a senior in 1996-97 — the same year Ralph joined the Huskies. 

The 6-foot guard was a mainstay for the Huskies, and shined in March Madness. She won Big East Rookie of the Year in Berube’s final season, but tore her right ACL in their first round matchup, missing the rest of UConn’s Elite Eight run and the entire next year.

Ralph came back like she never left in 1998-99, helping lead the Huskies to their second-straight Sweet 16 and a national championship in 2000. The team captain put together a defensive masterclass against Tennessee, collecting six of the team’s 12 steals, on top of 15 points and seven assists.

She was awarded the 2000 Most Valuable Player at the tournament’s Final Four. Ralph re-aggravated her knee injury in UConn’s final regular season game and missed the 2001 NCAA tournament, but her name was already cemented in program and March Madness history.

Notre Dame’s Niele Ivey & Missouri State’s Beth Cunningham — ND from 1993-97, 1996-2001

Beth Cunningham and Niele Ivey are two living legends in South Bend, both entrenched in Fighting Irish history in different ways.

Cunningham stuffed the statsheet all four years, averaging 17.9 points both her freshman and sophomore seasons, 20.2 as a junior. She scored 18.3 a game during her senior year that lifted ND to the Final Four, including a 33-point, 13-rebound performance in the Sweet Sixteen. 

She set or tied 28 school records and was the all-time leading scorer in Fighting Irish when her college career ended (now fourth).

Watch: New Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey leads comeback win over UConn in 2001 Final Four

Ivey’s reputation started getting built during her college career and has continued as a coach.

Her freshman year with Cunningham was cut short due to a season-ending knee injury in her fifth collegiate game, an even tougher pill to swallow considering the team reached the Final Four that season. However, the comeback was more than noteworthy: starting in three of the next NCAA tournaments and bringing Notre Dame’s first-ever national title. 

She dipped into a few buckets in the 2001 championship game with 12 points, six steals, five rebounds and four assists, including a late-game layup that gave Notre Dame the lead en route to a 68-66 win.

Ivey made the Final Four All-Tournament Team after averaging 16.5 points and 5.5 steals per game over six games, and received the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award, given to the Most Outstanding Player no taller than 5-foot-8.

Cunningham and Ivey helped ND win the 2018 national championship as associate head coaches.

Other names to know

LSU coach Kim Mulkey — Louisiana Tech from 1981-1984

Kim Mulkey's highlights as Louisiana Tech's play-making point guard

Kim Mulkey is one of the winningest college coaches ever, and like Staley, the same could be said of her playing days.

She went 130-6 while at Louisiana Tech, orchestrating the offense and dishing out more assists than points in her first two seasons. She led the Lady Techsters to consecutive national championships in the 1981 AIAW tournament and the inaugural 1982 NCAA tournament. Rocking the French braids-look, she racked up seven in the 1982 title game versus Cheyney and 11 in the 1983 national championship loss to Southern California.

The two postseason losses Mulkey suffered were to the Trojans and WNBA Hall of Famer Cheryl Miller.

Mulkey was the first woman to win a national championship as both a player and a coach, and the inaugural Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award winner in 1984.

Texas Tech's Krista Gerlich — Texas Tech from 1989-1993

Gerlich is one of three players in Texas Tech’s program history to have their jersey retired, shining light on her impact for the Red Raiders before returning nearly 30 years later.

Texas Tech competed in the NCAA tournament each season she was in Lubbock, going as far as the Sweet Sixteen during her junior year in 1992. 

The season that etched her name into the hearts of the Red Raiders faithful was 1993, when she and Basketball Hall of Famer Sheryl Swoopes brought Texas Tech its first national championship. Although Swoopes garnered most of the praise after dropping a remarkable 47 points, Gerlich added 14 points, five assists and three rebounds.

She averaged 12.9 points, 5.3 assists, 4.9 rebounds and shot 44.7% from three. 

Duke's Kara Lawson — Tennessee from 1999-2003

Kara Lawson and Tennessee fell short to UConn in the 2000 national championship, starting as a freshman for the Volunteers, a type of finish that lights a fire inside to make another deep tournament run. 

And with legendary coach, the late Pat Summitt, Tennessee kept that promise. Lawson helped guide the Vols to the Sweet Sixteen, Final Four and another national championship in 2003 — a rematch with the Huskies. Tennessee lost again, 73-68, but Lawson put up a valiant effort, leading the Volunteers in points (18) and assists (five). She started in 137 of her 143 college games.

Like Ivey and Mulkey and Ivey, Lawson received the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award in 2003.

Syracuse’s Felisha Legette-Jack — Syracuse from 1984 to 1989

There aren’t many players who can credit themselves with pushing their respective college basketball programs to new heights, especially in a competitive DI conference.

Felisha Legette-Jack would like to have a word.

Attending Syracuse from 1984-89, she willed the Orange to its first-ever NCAA tournament after winning Big East Rookie of the Year honors. Legette-Jack led the team in scoring (12.8) and rebounds (8.1) that year before their first-round exit.

Although Syracuse didn’t make it to the Big Dance in her sophomore season, she averaged a double-double: 15.8 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. She finished her college career as the Orange’s all-time leader in points and rebounds. 

Coaches who played in the NCAA tournament

Here are the 23 coaches who took trips to the Big Dance. Coaches who played in the AIAW tournament, the women’s national tournament from 1972 to 1982, or appeared in the DII or DIII national tournaments, were included. 

The list does contain the coaches whose teams were eliminated in the 2026 First Four round.

(Scroll right to read the entire table.)