Signor-Brown goes to Garnet

More news about: Swarthmore | Vassar
Aug 01, 2019
  
Signor-Brown will get to wear this color more often when she leads the Garnet's women's basketball program.
Photo by Nick Jallat, Vassar College athletics


Candice Signor-Brown, who led Vassar to the NCAA Tournament four times, will be the next head women's basketball coach at Swarthmore.

"When I think about the Philadelphia area, I think of basketball mecca," Signor-Brown told KYW Radio in Philadelphia. "For years, Swarthmore hasn't done as well as it possibly could, and I think that with the men going to the national championship game last year, it really opened a lot of people's eyes to what the possibilities at Swarthmore could be."

Signor-Brown built Vassar into an NCAA Tournament team after taking over a program that had not reached double-digit wins in eight seasons before her arrival. Brown led the Brewers to a program best 21-5 record in 2012-13 and then led them to an even better mark of 23-6 the next season, including a win over Williams in the 2014 NCAA Tournament. Last season the Brewers went 21-7 and received an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament. Signor-Brown and assistant Claire Mattox were named Liberty League Coaching Staff of the Year.

Signor-Brown leaves Vassar with the .600 winning percentage (159-106) which is the best in program's history. Prior to her 10 seasons in Poughkeepsie, she was the head coach at Manhattanville for three seasons where she went 38-42. She was the MAC Freedom Coach of the Year in her final season with the Valiants.

As a college athlete Signor-Brown was a two-time All-American at Marymount and led the Saints to the 2002 NCAA Tournament national semifinals.

She replaces Renee DeVarney who stepped down after going 133-218 in fourteen seasons at Swarthmore. DeVarney's best season came in 2012-13 when she led the Garnet to a 23-7 finish and an ECAC title. The Garnet struggled to a 15-85 record the past five seasons, including 3-22 last season.

Swarthmore opens the 2019-20 season against Alvernia, which also changed its coach this offseason.