Northwestern's Joe McKeown will coach final season in 2025-26
03/24/2025 05:46 PM
The Northwestern Wildcats women’s basketball team will see the end of an era when head coach Joe McKeown retires after the 2025-26 season.
McKeown made his decision known in a press release on Monday, saying the 18th season of his career with the program will be his last. It will also mark his 40th overall as a head coach.
“Seventeen years ago on a golf course in Washington, D.C., Wildcat legend Michael Wilbon said I should look at Northwestern,” said McKeown. “I did, and we never looked back! I am excited to coach the Wildcats this upcoming 2025-26 season. It has been an honor to be in Evanston for the past 17 years. We brought Northwestern its first Big Ten championship in 30 years, went to multiple NCAA Tournaments, and put plenty of Wildcats in the WNBA and other pro leagues.”
“We are grateful for the many people that have supported us along the way. To all the great players, coaches, support staff, and fans that have given everything to Northwestern Women’s Basketball, thank you. To our administration that has supported us and given us the resources to be successful in the Big Ten and nationally, thank you.”
How Joe McKeown, Northwestern performed this season
Joe McKeown will leave behind an incredible legacy with the Northwestern Wildcats when the 2025-26 campaign ends.
McKeown led the program to 268 victories, ten winning seasons, and made multiple postseason appearances, including a WNIT runner-up finish in 2019 and two NCAA Tournament berths in 2015 and 2021. 2021 was their best result, advancing to the second round for the first time since 1993.
Northwestern finished with a 9-18 overall record, going 2-16 in Big Ten play. They averaged 68.2 points on 43% shooting from the field and 28.6% from beyond the arc by gave up 74.7 points on defense. As a result, they lost to opponents by a margin of 6.6 points per game.
The Wildcats will look to retool in the offseason, hoping to give McKeown a solid sendoff in the final season of his coaching career.
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