When Megan Phelps was a high school basketball player in Bar Harbor, Maine, she planned on going to college about as far from home as she could get. But a family connection with Bowdoin’s head women’s basketball coach ultimately kept Phelps in Maine where she played for the Polar Bears from 2011 to 2015.
As a college student, Phelps had his sights set on a career in Washington, DC. An injury and a family tragedy changed the course of Phelps’ life again and eventually led her back to Bowdoin as an assistant coach, where she was part of Adrienne Shibles’ staff and helped lead the Polar Bears to consecutive national title games.
In May 2021, Shibles left Division III for the head job at Division I Dartmouth and Phelps decided to follow her mentor to New Hampshire. Less than 12 months later, Bowdoin announced that it was looking for a new women’s basketball coach. Megan Phelps felt the pull back to Brunswick, applied for the job and was named the Polar Bears new head coach.
We caught up with Coach Phelps in between recruiting trips and talked about what makes Bowdoin so special, what makes Maine college basketball so good, and what keeps bringing her back to Brunswick.