Shibles makes jump to Division I

Bowdoin athletics photo

Adrienne Shibles, the winningest head coach in the history of Bowdoin women’s basketball, has accepted an offer to become the head coach of the Dartmouth College women’s basketball team.

Ten Division III women’s basketball head coaches have gone directly to head coaching jobs in NCAA Division I in the past five years.

Shibles enjoyed an incredible 12-season run at the helm of the Polar Bears, leading the squad to the NCAA Tournament on 11 occasions, two New England Small College Athletic Conference championships and an overall record of 281-65 (.805). Over the last three seasons she guided the program to unprecedented heights, including back-to-back NCAA Division III title game appearances in 2018 and 2019 and an 87-7 mark. The Polar Bears were on their way to a potential third-straight Final Four appearance in 2020, owning a 27-2 record, winning the NESCAC championship, and earning hosting rights for an NCAA Tournament sectional before the cancelation of the championship due to COVID-19.

“The college is incredibly grateful for Adrienne’s commitment to supporting the development and well-being of the women within our basketball program and we all will cherish the unprecedented success our team achieved under her leadership,” said athletic director Tim Ryan. “Adrienne’s career at Bowdoin was bookended by NESCAC championships, but her true success will be measured by the countless lives she has positively impacted within and outside our campus community.  We look forward to following Adrienne’s success at Dartmouth.”

“I will forever be thankful to everyone in the Bowdoin community for their support over the last 13 years,” said Shibles. “I will always treasure the incredible memories with colleagues and staff, our passionate fans and, of course, the incredible women I had the privilege to coach. I am confident that the extraordinary legacy of Bowdoin women’s basketball will continue well into the future.”

A 1991 graduate of Bates, Shibles is a native of Knox, Maine, and graduate of Mount View High School. At Bates she was a two-time captain of the women’s basketball team at a 1,000-point scorer, graduating with a degree in History and American studies. After coaching basketball at Babson and basketball and soccer at Colby, Shibles enrolled in a graduate program in exercise and sports studies at Smith, where she earned a master’s degree in 1996. While at Smith she worked as assistant and then head basketball coach at Elms in Massachusetts before heading to Swarthmore, where she established herself as one of the top coaches in the nation by winning 138 games in nine years prior to coming to Bowdoin.

Bowdoin has retained Parker Executive Search to assist with the search for a new head coach.