The women’s basketball coaching tree at Williams College does not have as many branches as the men’s tree does. But Eph head coach Pat Manning’s tree just sprouted a new branch at a NESCAC rival.

Meredith Mesaris, who spent five years on Manning’s staff in Williamstown, is the new head coach at Tufts. Mesaris replaces Jill Pace, who resigned in May after six seasons in Medford. Pace took a job outside of basketball.

In two years as the Vassar head coach, Mesaris went 46-10, and won back-to-back Liberty League tournament championships. Along with those came consecutive trips to the NCAA Division III tournament.

“I am thrilled that Meredith has been selected as the next head women’s basketball coach at Tufts University,” Manning said in a release from Tufts. “I know that she will make the most of this tremendous opportunity as she returns to the NESCAC. Meredith’s work ethic and attention to detail was evident each day in the five seasons she spent as a member of our coaching staff at Williams. Her competitive fire, love of the game and ability to lead will serve the Jumbos well. Meredith is a proven winner, guiding her Vassar team to consecutive Liberty League titles and trips to the NCAA Tournament.”

The former Eph assistant’s last year on the court was the 2019-20 season, when Williams went 20-8. The Ephs made it to the NCAA Division III Tournament, beating Albright and host Ithaca in the first two rounds. Manning, Mesaris and the Ephs were on a bus heading to Tufts for the Sweet 16 round, when the COVID-19 pandemic caused the NCAA to cancel the tournament.

Mesaris left Williams after the 2020-21 season to take a position at Division I Dartmouth. Mesaris also coached at the University of Hartford before taking the reins at Vassar.

“For the short term, start building relationships with players, staff and the department right away, gaining familiarity with the program, the University, and the community, and laying the groundwork with the team for preparing to be a competitive contender in the upcoming season,” said Mesaris in a release. “Long term, I want to sustain a championship-level program that consistently competes for NESCAC and NCAA titles, develops student-athletes who excel in all areas of their lives, and upholds the proud tradition of Tufts women’s basketball.”

Mesaris is the fourth former Eph and third former Manning assistant, who is now a Division III head coach.

Alexandra Dellas will begin her ninth season this fall as the women’s coach at Hiram College in Ohio, where she is also the school’s senior women’s administrator. Dellas was an assistant when Williams went to the Final Four in 2013, and beat archrival Amherst in the D-III consolation game.

Samantha Crough, who worked at Williams from 2015-2017, and was on staff with Mesaris for one season, is the head coach at Regis College in Weston. 

Chessie Jackson, who played for Manning at Williams and graduated in 2011, is starting her ninth season as the head coach at The College of New Jersey.

One of Jackson’s former teammates, guard Grace Rehnquist, is the girls varsity coach at Northfield Mount Hermon.

Kerrie Kosakowski, who was on Manning’s staff from 2019-21, is the girls coach at Perkiomen School in Pennsylvania. Like NMH, Perkiomen is a prep school.

And Appoorva Muralinath, who coached at Williams from 2021-23, is the lead coach of the Junior Boston Celtics program.