Final Four Veteran Will Lead Fairfield University Women's Basketball

FAIRFIELD, CT — A veteran of two Final Fours and one of the nation’s top recruiters, Connecticut native Carly Thibault-DuDonis has been named the head coach of the Fairfield University women’s basketball program.

Thibault-DuDonis most recently served as the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Minnesota. She will be the third Division I head coach in program history.

“I am absolutely thrilled to introduce Carly Thibault-DuDonis as the head coach of Fairfield University women’s basketball,” Director of Athletics Paul Schlickmann said in a university news release. “In what was a comprehensive search process, it became abundantly clear that Carly embodies who we are and who we aspire to be; as a university, as an athletics department, and as a championship-caliber women’s basketball program.”

In four seasons at Minnesota alongside newly minted Naismith Hall of Famer Lindsay Whalen, Thibault-DuDonis brought three nationally ranked recruiting classes to Williams Arena — including a current incoming class that ranks 10th in the nation — and the first two five-star recruits in program history. On the court, she was integral in the development of All-Big Ten First Teamer and WNBA draft pick Kenisha Bell, as well as All-Big Ten Second Team guards Sara Scalia and Destiny Pitts. Thibault-DuDonis was the team’s defensive coordinator and assumed the role of interim head coach in 2022 while Whalen was on medical leave.

"I am honored to be named the next head women's basketball coach at Fairfield University,” Thibault-DuDonis said in the news release. “In my coaching journey, it has always been my goal to be in places where I could positively impact young women's lives and be surrounded by others who wanted to do the same. Here at Fairfield, I've found a perfect fit."

Her first foray into the Power Five world brought Thibault-DuDonis to Mississippi State University, where the Bulldogs made back-to-back appearances in the NCAA National Championship Game and brought the first-ever SEC Regular Season Championship to Starkville.

"Our women's basketball program is clearly on the rise, having won our conference and competed energetically in the NCAA Tournament this past year, " Fairfield University President Mark R. Nemec said in the news release. "As we continue to advance as a modern Jesuit, Catholic university of national prominence, we are taking our athletics programs to greater heights."

Prior to her time at Mississippi State, Thibault-DuDonis was on Head Coach Tory Verdi’s coaching staff at Eastern Michigan University from 2014-16. She began her collegiate career at Florida State University as director of recruiting operations for Head Coach Sue Semrau in the 2013-14 season.

A standout at East Lyme High School, Thibault-DuDonis played collegiately at Monmouth University. She earned All-Northeast Conference Third Team honors and was named the NEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year as a senior, and helped the Hawks to a WNIT berth in her sophomore season. Thibault-DuDonis was the valedictorian of the class of 2013 at Monmouth, graduating with a 4.0 GPA as a psychology major with a double minor in Spanish and health studies.

Thibault-DuDonis married her husband, Blake DuDonis, in the summer of 2017. Her father, Mike Thibault, is currently the head coach of the WNBA’s Washington Mystics. The three-time WNBA Coach of the Year previously coached the Connecticut Sun and has been an assistant coach in the NBA for the Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago Bulls and Milwaukee Bucks.

Carly Thibault-DuDonis takes the helm of Fairfield women’s basketball as the sixth head coach in program history. This past season, the Stags won the program’s first MAAC Championship since 1998, and made their first NCAA postseason appearance since 2001 in the 15th campaign led by Head Coach Joe Frager.