'It’s the most incredible run I ever could have dreamed of': Magarity reflects on leaving Holy Cross; Green excited to step in

As the daughter of a basketball coach, Maureen Magarity knew at a young age that’s what she wanted to do, too.

For the last 21 years, including four on her father Dave’s staff at Army, and the last fantastic four leading the Holy Cross women’s team back to the top of the Patriot League, lived out her childhood aspiration.

“You have all these dreams,” Magarity said Wednesday, “and I just exceeded every dream and goal I’ve ever had by what I’ve accomplished with my teams.”

In her four seasons at Holy Cross, Magarity navigated the Crusaders through COVID, won 72 games, a regular-season Patriot League title, two PL tournament championships and guided HC to a pair of NCAA tourney appearances, including a First Four round win in 2023-24.

“What we accomplished these four years at Holy Cross,” Magarity said, “I still have to pinch myself. It’s the most incredible run I ever could have dreamed of.”

On Tuesday, Holy Cross announced Magarity had stepped down from her position and named Candice Green, who joined Magarity’s staff last year, as interim coach for the 2024-25 season.

“The timing is not ideal,” said Magarity, who, over the last couple of days, informed her assistants and players of her decision before Holy Cross made the news public, “but I feel really good to leave the program in the hands of Candice and the staff. I was so grateful to hire Candice last year because it was like having another head coach on the staff with me.”

Before HC, Green spent four years at Fordham, where she was the interim coach in 2022-23. That season, Green helped guide the Rams to a 19-13 record and an appearance in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT).

“Candice is truly uniquely qualified for this,” Holy Cross vice president for intercollegiate athletics Kit Hughes said. “She’s done it before. Not only did she have really nice success at Fordham during her interim period, she learned a tremendous amount through that experience. Those are the lessons she’s going to bring with her into this role.

“Candice did not hesitate when I asked her to serve in this capacity,” Hughes said. “She’s driven to do right by these players and this program, and she knows how important that is during a transition like this.”

Magarity, the single mother of two young daughters, rising sixth-grader Charlotte, and rising third-grader Caroline, who were two of HC’s biggest fans the last four years, cited family reasons for her resignation from Holy Cross.

Magarity, who is engaged to University of Vermont men’s basketball coach John Becker, and her daughters will move to Vermont, where Magarity will pursue new career opportunities outside of coaching that will give her more flexibility and time with her girls.

It was a difficult decision to leave her HC coaching job, Magarity said.

“But in my heart,” she said, “I felt like I had to take a step back.”

Magarity led the Crusaders to three 20-win seasons. HC’s 24 victories in 2022-23 were the second most in a single season in program history. That year, Holy Cross beat Boston University to capture its first Patriot League tourney title since 2007. The Crusaders repeated as PL champs this past season with a rousing win over BU on St. Patrick’s Day at the Hart Center .

HC went on to defeat UT Martin in the First Four round of the NCAA Tournament , marking just the second victory by a Patriot League women’s team in the NCAA tourney. In 1991, Holy Cross scored an NCAA win over Maryland.

The Crusaders garnered national attention when they faced Iowa and Caitlin Clark , the favorite player of Magarity’s daughters, in the first round of the 2023-24 NCAAs.

“Maureen showed everybody that coaches can win with kindness,” Hughes said. “She is just such a positive, encouraging, kind person and she coached that way and we won that way. She created a nurturing environment that talented kids wanted to be part of, and it brought out the best in people.

“We will obviously miss her terribly,” Hughes said, “but we wish her well and it is never wrong to put your family first.”

Hughes believes Magarity set up Holy Cross women’s basketball for long-term success.

“With the staff she put together and the student-athletes she brought in,” Hughes said, “I don’t think we could be any better positioned to move productively through this transition given the circumstances and a lot of that is a credit to her. We are really grateful for all of those things.”

Kat Fogarty and Paige Corkins return to the HC staff as assistants and Ryan Weise as director of operations.

“We’re so sad to see Coach Mo leave,” Green said. “She brought us all together, but she has to do what’s best for her family. We have a great group of girls and we’re excited, but we’re going to miss our leader.”

Last season, Green worked with HC’s guards including Bronagh Power-Cassidy, the PL Championship MVP, Scholar-Athlete of the Year and first-team selection, and Cara McCormack, a third-team All-PL honoree.

Green, who was a two-year captain at Colgate, became Fordham’s interim coach after the school parted ways with former coach Stephanie Gaitley in June 2022.

“(From that experience),” Green said, “I’m more aware of the duties I have to take over, implementing a system, and the role, the relationship with the players becomes a little different. I’m prepared for that, and I understand what they are going through mentally, the loss of Coach Mo. I hope I can help with that.”

Green learned plenty of Xs and Os from Magarity, “but,” Green said, “what I’ll hold onto the most is her ability to form and maintain relationships and how genuine it was.”

Holy Cross hired Magarity, who coached for 10 seasons at the University of New Hampshire, where she was the 2017 Kay Yow National Coach of the Year, in April 2020, a month into the pandemic shutdown.

She “met” her players through regular Zoom calls until they were allowed to practice and prepare for an abbreviated 2021 season.

Magarity earned her first win at Holy Cross against Army and her dad in what was the first father-daughter coaching matchup in Division 1 history.

“When I think back to (when she took the HC job), it was a scary time,” Magarity said, “and a leap of faith for sure, but it felt right in my heart. I’m grateful to my parents for teaching me that sometimes you have to go with your heart, and trust and pray it will all work out.

“It was also an exciting time,” Magarity said, “because I always put Holy Cross women’s basketball on such a pedestal. Holy Cross seemed like a great fit for me and a place I could be successful. I inherited some amazing humans that believed in me to lead them in an uncharted time. We fought through it together and figured it out, and since then we were able to recruit some amazing players that fit into our systems and bring in great assistant coaches. I’m so proud of what we accomplished.”

—Contact Jennifer Toland at jennifer.toland@telegram.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @JenTolandTG.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: 'It’s the most incredible run I ever could have dreamed of': Magarity reflects on leaving Holy Cross; Green excited to step in