Who is Courtney Banghart’s Assistant Coach Katherine Bixby?

Courtney Banghart's assistant coach spent time at Loyola Chicago and John Hopkins prior to Chapel Hill.

Jan 16, 2022; South Bend, Indiana, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Courtney Banghart instructs her players in the first half against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at the Purcell Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-Imagn Images | Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

Courtney Banghart's coaching staff comprises four different people, one of which being Katherine Bixby, making way toward her second year in Chapel Hill under the former Princeton head coach.

Nov 25, 2024; Paradise Island, Bahamas, BHS; North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Courtney Banghart reacts during the second half against the Indiana Hoosiers at the Atlantis Resort. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

GoHeels provides more details about Bixby's career, featuring stops at Loyola Chicago as well as Johns Hopkins.

"Throughout an extensive search process, Katherine’s breadth of experience proved invaluable in an ever-changing landscape in college athletics,” Banghart said. “A former head coach, Katherine brings value to so many key areas. She has served as a lead recruiter, she has developed players from all positional groups, and she’s been a strategist on both sides of the ball. She is eager to be a teammate and to help further elevate this program and we are grateful to have her aboard.”

Bixby, who brings more than 15 years of coaching experience to Chapel Hill, spent one season at Loyola of Maryland, where she helped engineer a program turnaround, with the Greyhounds going from 10-21 in 2022-23 to 16-15 last season. There she was part of the 2024 Patriot League Staff of the Year as Loyola registered its first winning season since 2010-11.

Prior to that, she spent six seasons as the head coach at Johns Hopkins, leading the Blue Jays to five-straight seasons of 17 or more wins, including back-to-back 20-win campaigns. Johns Hopkins won the regular-season conference title in 2023, and Bixby was the Centennial Conference Coach of the Year in 2019.

Throughout her time at JHU she maintained a standard of academic excellence, with her teams ranking in the WBCA National Academic Honor Roll four times.

She served as head coach at Dickinson College from 2014-17, including an 18-win season in 2017, and has been an assistant coach at Ithaca College. Her experience also includes a range of camps and clinics.

A graduate of Ithaca College, she was inducted into the school's hall of fame last fall for her basketball and lacrosse performance. She earned a Master of Arts in Teaching from Ithaca in 2012.

“I am thrilled to be starting a new chapter in the women’s basketball program at the University of North Carolina,” Bixby said. “Thank you to Coach Banghart for this incredible opportunity to join the Tar Heel community. I look forward to bringing my experience to this vibrant culture and working alongside superb colleagues and student-athletes.”

North Carolina head coach Courtney Banghart instructs her team against Louisville during their game at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky. on Feb. 23, 2025. | Sam Upshaw Jr./Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Given that UNC made it to the Sweet 16 last season, the possibility of continuing similar success or greater, is in its cards, but Bixby will be there to bolster the journey. It's kind of like how Chris Ducar did with Damon Nahas during the women's soccer national championship defeat over Wake Forest.

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