Barry is Hired as an Assistant Women's Basketball Coach for the Bearcats

By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

Grace Barry has been hired by Willamette University as an assistant women's basketball coach for the Bearcats. Barry most recently played for the national championship team in women's basketball during the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) season in 2021-22 while working on a master's degree at the University of Essex (England).

"I am very excited to have Grace join our Bearcat family," Willamette Head Women's Basketball Coach Peg Swadener said. "She is a proven winner, having won championships everywhere she has been. She has a spectacular basketball mind, and does a wonderful job getting the best out of everyone around her. She will make a tremendous impact on our players both on and off the court."

Previously, Barry attended Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska, where she played basketball. She helped Concordia win the NAIA Division II National Champonship in 2018-19, when she also earned First Team All-National Tournament honors and was chosen National Tournament MVP. She was selected Second Team All-Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) in 2018-19 and was named First Team All-GPAC in 2019-20. She also earned NAIA All-America recognition in 2019-20, when she also was the CoSIDA NAIA Academic All-American of the Year for all sports as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (now College Sports Communicators). She scored more than 1,000 career points for Concordia.

Barry received a Bachelor of Science degree in Secondary Education at Concordia with a concentration in Social Sciences and minors in Psychology, Criminal Justice, and History. She was worked toward a Master of Science degree in Sport & Exercise Psychology at the University of Essex.

"The Willamette women's basketball program is committed to excellence in academics and athletics. I hope to continue this tradition and help our student-athletes reach their full potential in all aspects of their lives," Barry commented. "I am excited to work with Coach Swadener and Coach Sarah Hedgepeth to develop our student-athletes into strong, confident women on and off the basketball court. Together we will continue to build a championship caliber women's basketball program at Willamette."