The season has been over for a month, but Northwestern women’s basketball is still making moves, adding new coaches and players.

New associate coach Lauren Dillon has known coach Carla Berube for her entire basketball career, having played for her at Tufts before following her to continue her coaching career at Princeton and now NU. 

Dillon spoke with The Daily on Friday about her relationship with Berube, the newest ’Cats, coaching staff additions and her vision for NU basketball.

This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.

The Daily: Can you talk a little bit about your relationship with Coach Berube?

Dillon: We’ve known each other now for 12 years. We’ve gone through different versions of our relationship, but I’ll never forget the first time that I actually spoke with her in person. I was on my official visit at Tufts, and I was sitting across the desk from her. I was sitting between my parents on the couch, and I was so nervous. At this point (in my life), I (was) not shy at all. I (was) very outgoing, actually, but I remember just kind of being tongue-tied and not knowing what to say and being completely blown away by her. The way that she recruits, the way that she shows care and love for her program, and how much she’s committed to continuing to build, no matter what. 

At this point, they had just won the NESCAC championship. They were playing in the Final Four, and that even wasn’t good enough. She had sights to win the national championship, to get to that game. I was blown away by her excellence, but also her humility, and the way that she is never satisfied and always knows that (she) and her teams can get better. The idea that I could be a part of that was really special. 

That was kind of my first experience of, “Whoa.” (I was) a little bit in awe of just being in the vicinity of her and getting to play for her. And throughout my playing days, our relationship was pretty strong from the get-go. I would say that I was able to crack her open a little bit. She was kind of tough in the early days, but if you’re able to get to her through humor, it made things a little bit easier. 

I loved playing for her. I think she put a lot of her trust in me as a player, so I was able to put a lot of my trust in her off the court. So we always had a relationship where I was able to come to her and talk to her, and vice versa, and then the jump from player to coach was interesting, especially at my alma mater, but right away, it felt like by the time that I actually became an assistant coach, I was so ready for it because of the leadership work and the conversations and the trust and communication that we had built over those four years that it honestly didn’t feel like a jump at all. It felt just like the shoe that fit, like I was ready for it. 

I credit her a lot for the work that she did with me off the court. Over the past eight years coaching together, it’s been awesome. I think she’s given me a voice more and more every year, and I think you don’t see that a lot out of head coaches. I feel so honored to be able to step onto the court and know that my voice is so valued and that you can hear my voice in practice a lot, and she’s not going to be like, “I need the floor, it’s my team.” It feels like all of our team. I think our relationship has continued to grow, and the trust is definitely there already, and now she’s helping me find my voice and my footing in my own coaching career, which I credit her a lot for. 

The Daily: What are you excited to see about the new coaching staff?

Dillon: (Director of Analytics) George (Bukaku) is amazing. He is an analytics guru, a genius. He is providing us with something that we’ve never had access to in my years of coaching, which is so much data, so much film breakdown, so just our resources to be able to sit with our players and work with them on their their stats and specific video breakdowns, both in practice and games, I think is just going to elevate our player development to another level. I’m so excited about George and also his connections to other basketball brains. He has connections in the NBA, WNBA, college basketball. He was a player himself over in California. (I’m) excited for a lot of things that George has to bring. 

(Chief of Staff) Allison Guth, we go a little bit back with her, as well. She was on the Yale side as the head coach when Coach Berube was the head coach at Princeton. So we battled against her for years, but we always had so much respect for her, the way she coached, the way her programs performed so well for her and played so hard for her, and she is just this awesome personality and incredible recruiter, knows the Chicagoland area really well, so having her to (tap) into the local high schools and (the) Midwest region is huge for us. 

(Assistant Coach) Mariya Moore, she was the recruiting coordinator at Georgetown. She is similarly an awesome personality, a really easy person to work with. She has a lot of connections everywhere. She played professionally. She played at two different schools, USC and Louisville, and she has a network, both in the (United) States, but also internationally. So we’ve been depending on her a lot to have a scope of what the players are like overseas, because that’s not something that we have really tapped into previously. She’ll also bring us some post coaching as well, which we’re excited about.

(Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator) Maggie (Lyon), she’s been awesome. She is Northwestern through and through, born and raised here, and obviously went here, and as an alum, (she) just has the deepest love and passion for this place. There’s nobody (who) wants Northwestern to succeed as much as she does. So I think that alone is so helpful, but also her knowledge of the institution, knowledge of the program, of the alums. She’s going to be a great connector for us to our alumni network. She has been leading a lot of our campus tours because it’s been hard to find the time for us to get out there. Her love, passion and knowledge for this place (have) been insurmountable.

The Daily: How did you find the new additions, and what drew them to Northwestern?

Dillon: (Former Syracuse guard) Camdyn Nelson is somebody that we recruited back at Princeton. She played at high school for a school that was in my league. In high school, I went to Noble and Greenough, and she went to St. Luke’s. I’m familiar with that area, and I’m from New England, so I knew her and her family really well. So she was someone we wanted to get in touch with and get on campus right away. With her, she was looking for a place that fit her playing style. So I think she is such a dynamic point guard, and she brings a lot to the table as it comes to skill but also the type of athlete we love, and then the type of teammate and person that we know that she is. So knowing all of those things made it a really easy yes, I think, for us and for her. I think on top of the right fit, knowing that she knows our staff really well, knowing the success that coach Berube and all of her programs had had, that she also believes in a bright future for Northwestern women’s basketball, and she was ready to be the start of it. 

Similarly, (former Kentucky guard) Lexi Blue, we also recruited at Princeton, so we knew her parents, we knew her, and just like when we felt about Cam, we knew that she was going to bring athleticism and skill and college basketball experience. We also knew her staff at Kentucky, and they had awesome things to say about her and what she was able to bring to the day-to-day practice and games, and as a teammate, so equally excited for her. 

(Former Syracuse forward) Jasmyn Cooper went to my high school, so I’ve known about her for a while. Me and my high school basketball coach are really close. His name is Alex Gallagher,  and we talk weekly just about how the program’s doing. They’re definitely a women’s basketball powerhouse, so (we) always have an eye on those players. We go way back with Jasmyn, and I think similarly, she was looking for the right fit. She is a high academic student-athlete, so I think she wanted that experience and was ready for the challenge on all levels.

The Daily: How do you think the current players have bought into the message you and coach Berube have been sending?

Dillon: There’s no group of people that wants to win more than this group of people, and I think that was made very clear in the first team meeting that we had. They were giddy for high standards. They were giddy to get pushed and challenged because they know what it takes to be successful, especially in such a great program, such a great conference like the Big Ten. So they took us in with open arms, and they’re really excited for the future and excited for the challenges that we’ve already posed to them. 

I think every day is a challenge in practice, and they’re responding incredibly well to it. That has been awesome. Everything we talk about, we’re really taking it day by day, but I think our standards are so high day by day that they’re just soaking it in and really excited and appreciative for what we have to offer.

The Daily: Who are some players you expect to see step up on and off the court?

Dillon: A lot of them have the ability to impact leadership. I think that’s one really cool thing about this program is they are a very mature group that each have their own strengths and weaknesses, but I could see them all leading in certain ways. 

An easy choice is (junior guard) Casey Harter, who is a rising senior. (She) has a lot of game experience, has always led by example, but one of our early conversations with her has been, “You need to inspire those around you, not just with what you do on the court but how you hold them accountable, and that requires conversations and being on them in practice and outside of practice.” That’s something that we’re working with her on, and I definitely think she has it in her. 

(Sophomore guard) Xamiya Walton, for sure. Similar with her game experience, but she also just has a natural ability to command a room as a great point guard does. I think she’ll be a great extension to our coaching staff (in terms of) what we want to see on the floor. She’s also a great connector, too. I think she connects the team really well. 

I can name a lot of them. I would say (sophomore guard) Claire Keswick and (sophomore guard and forward) Kat (Righeimer). They care so much about this team, and it’s very obvious. Their ability to form relationships with everyone on the team and just kind of fulfill the culture aspect of leadership, they definitely will hit that.

The Daily: Where do you see Northwestern women’s basketball in two to three years?

Dillon: I see our culture being incredibly strong. I see it being a sisterhood that once you leave here, you feel connected to for life. I see us vying for Big Ten championships. I see us in the NCAA Tournament. 

Coach Berube has not missed an NCAA tournament since 2011, so that is her standard. That is what we are used to, and that is what we know. I have no doubt that through bringing in our staff, and getting to know this, this current team and bringing in the players that we are, that we’re going to be able to have a lot of success here. 

I’m incredibly excited for the future. I’m incredibly excited for every day, to be honest, because I think every day we’re getting better, and I have really high hopes for what we’re going to be able to achieve.

Email: [email protected]

X: @YoniZacks

Related Stories:

— Women’s Basketball: Carla Berube looks to define an era of success

— Women’s Basketball: Princeton coach Carla Berube tapped as Joe McKeown successor

— Northwestern adds first transfers under coach Carla Berube