Sarah Behn has returned to the Massachusetts basketball scene.
The former Foxboro High and Boston College great was away from the sidelines for four years after resigning as head coach at Brown University in 2020.
Archbishop Williams High is her new opportunity, the school announced last week.
“When I was told she was available, I thought it was still a joke until she told me that she was, and that she would be interested in applying for the job," Archbishop Williams athletic director Sean McDonagh said.
“I wasn’t sure when I’d get back in. I was missing it," Behn said. “I was thinking of doing a couple of different things, but of course this pull of basketball always comes back very strongly.”
Exit from Brown
Behn, 52, spent six seasons at Brown. The Bears went 74-92 and appeared in the program's first Ivy League tournament in 2017, the final of three straight winning seasons under Behn. The team went 9-21 and 8-19, respectively, in the last two years of her tenure.
In Behn's final season, the Brown Daily Herald reported that seven former players alleged Behn "repeatedly made remarks about players’ weights, used language that they described as vulgar and singled out players for criticism." Four players, two alums and two active at the time, later emailed the student newspaper in support of the coach.
According to the report , Lames ElGammal, a senior reserve on the 2020 team, claimed that "Behn would tell players, 'You need to lose some weight and then you’ll be faster,'" and that the coaching staff "really related (performance) to conditioning rather than weight.'"
The Brown University band boycotted the team's final two home games in protest.
McDonagh said that Behn addressed the allegations with the Archbishop Williams school president and board of directors during the interview process: “It was something she was upfront about," McDonagh said.
“For every stop I’ve had, I learned something, I’ve met great people and I grow," Behn said. "I grew a lot at Brown."
“When you’re in coaching long enough, I think there’s always going to be a situation or two where some kids get (in) a fit about things," she said of the allegations. "It’s tough to make people happy all of the time. I think it’s part of the job now – coaches and teachers are scrutinized. It’s hard to find somebody that doesn’t get somebody on their bad side at some point. It’s part of it, and it’s not a great part of coaching.”
“I wasn’t a part of it. I don’t want to speak ill of her or the (former players), but I think it was a miscommunication," McDonagh said. "On top of that, she’s learned from that in terms of how to communicate better. I think that’s the most important thing. I think everyone makes mistakes. There also needs to be forgiveness on the other side."
“We’re trying to move past that," the athletic director added. "My message is, she comes highly recommended from millions of different spaces. Everything I’ve received has been unbelievable feedback, not even knowing that some of the (Archbishop Williams) players on the team had attended her (skills development) camps in the past. Those parents couldn’t be happier with the decision.”
Behn inherits an Archbishop Williams team that went 7-13 last season. Longtime coach Matt Mahoney, who led the team to three Division 3 state titles and a 151-81 overall record in his 10 seasons, retired following the season.
Behn had previously coached at Framingham State (1997-2000), Franklin Pierce (2000-02), Foxboro High (2004-11) and UMass Lowell (2011-14).
Year-round hoops
Since leaving Brown, Behn was named Director of AAU for the Stoughton-based Dana Barros Basketball Club and Vice President of Behn Basketball Camp, a company she founded in 1994, then sold to a new owner upon her start at UMass Lowell in 2011. Her AAU duties primarily take place in the spring and fall.
She also opened another skills development and training project for individuals and groups, Basketball by Behn , in Foxboro.
“That’s a lot. A lot of basketball," Behn said. “But none of it is as stressful as college coaching. A lot of it is fun and lots of detail work, but not the same sort of grind of college coaching – traveling, airports, recruiting, the long weekends. It’s been a nice schedule. I’m enjoying it.”
As a player, Behn was the state's all-time leading scorer at Foxboro High (2,562 career points) and a Gatorade Player of the Year winner her senior year in 1989.
Behn continued on to Boston College (1990-93), where she became the school's scoring record holder with 2,523 career points, good for fifth all-time in Big East history. A 1998 BC Hall of Fame inductee, Behn's No. 33 jersey was retired by BC in 2003.
“Sarah knows pretty much everyone in the basketball world," McDonagh said. "As a high school coach, she’ll be able to help these girls navigate the (college) process when it comes to what schools are the best to go to for their ability and academically, as well.”
This winter, Archbishop Williams will compete in a loaded Central Catholic League, which features reigning state champions Bishop Feehan (Division 1) and Cathedral (Division 4); a St. Mary's team fresh off a Division 3 Final Four appearance; and a Bishop Fenwick team that went 17-3 despite a one-year, school-wide suspension from the postseason due to violations of the MIAA's player eligibility rule.
Behn's daughter, Gracie McGahan, was a freshman on the JV team at Bishop Feehan.
“I love high school basketball and high school sports," Behn said. "It means a lot to the kids and the families. I like the little rivalries that are closer in the footprint than the bigger stage of college sports."
Behn met with her new team recently, but hasn't yet seen any film of the players as they approach play in an offseason league in Quincy this summer.
“I’m just really looking forward to it. It’s such a healthy level of play,” Behn said. “This is a great opportunity for me to get back out there.”
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Sarah Behn puts controversy in past as new coach for Archbishop Williams girls basketball
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