Talk about a power couple! Maureen Magarity and her husband, John Becker, are believed to be the first married couple to simultaneously lead a school’s men’s and women’s basketball programs in NCAA Division I history.
According to Instagram, Becker proposed to Magarity in 2023, and the couple tied the knot in 2025. Now they’re making history together on the court.
Magarity decided to take the job after talking to her husband. She also had two very important people in mind — their daughters, Charlotte, 13, and Caroline, 10.
“This was a huge reason I wanted to take this job is to [give my daughters] role models like you [the players] girls and for them to grow up around you guys all the time,” Magarity said, per USA Today.
“That’s what I missed the most about coaching is having 15 big sisters [for my daughters] to look up to all the time,” she added.
Maureen Magarity and John Becker Make NCAA History
Magarity, 45, was hired as the 10th University of Vermont women’s basketball head coach on April 14, reuniting her with the sidelines after a two-year break.
Becker, 58, has been the head coach of the Vermont men’s basketball team since 2011, meaning the couple will now run both programs under the same roof. Together, they form what is believed to be an unprecedented husband-and-wife coaching pair at the Division I level.
Before landing at Vermont, Magarity built a seriously impressive résumé.
She spent four seasons as head coach at Holy Cross from 2020 to 2024, compiling a 72-41 record with three 20-win seasons and guiding the Crusaders to NCAA tournament appearances in 2023 and 2024. She left that post due to “family reasons,” per ESPN.
Prior to Holy Cross, she served as New Hampshire’s head coach for 10 years, where her 146 total wins rank second most in program history.
How Maureen Magarity’s Unique Path Opened the Door at Vermont
In the two years since leaving Holy Cross, Magarity stayed close to the game — working in the Vermont athletic department as the director of major gifts. Vermont athletic director Jeff Schulman clearly saw her potential all along.
“I always had joked that I thought we had two of the best women’s basketball coaches in the country on our staff,” Schulman said, per USA Today. “One was our women’s basketball coach (Alisa Kresge) and the other our major gift officer for athletics (Magarity).”
The opportunity materialized when Kresge resigned as head coach on April 11 after accepting a job at Richmond. Kresge and Magarity were college teammates at Marist University, and Magarity spoke warmly about following her longtime friend into the role.
“This is an incredibly unique situation of following my college teammate and a friend for a really long time … so I’m so proud of what (Kresge) has accomplished,” Magarity said, per USA Today.
With both Magarity and Becker now leading their respective programs, the University of Vermont finds itself at the center of a one-of-a-kind arrangement in Division I college basketball.
For Magarity, the return to coaching is about more than the game — it’s about family, friendship and showing her daughters what’s possible.
