BERKELEY, Calif. — Brooke Eubanks announced Wednesday that she will retire from collegiate coaching after spending the last eight seasons as the Cal lacrosse head coach.
“I am grateful for my entire experience as the head coach at Cal, but after a period of reflection I have decided it is simply time to write the next chapter,” Eubanks said. “I started this job eight years ago at age 30 with a 2-month-old daughter, and now my husband and I have two beautiful young children. My family has grown up in the Cal lacrosse program. We have been around so many great people, and we have created friends, relationships, and memories that we will cherish for a lifetime, but I feel like it’s the right time for personal change and growth for myself and my family.”
Eubanks’ teams increased their win total from the previous campaign for four consecutive years from 2016-19. The run culminated with Cal’s first victory at the Pac-12 Championships in 2019.
Cal also achieved tremendous success in the classroom during Eubanks’ tenure. Most recently, the Bears recorded a fifth consecutive perfect score of 1,000 in their multi-year Academic Progress Rate and last December had a Graduation Success Rate of over 90 percent in the most recent edition of the numbers released by the NCAA. Nikki Zaccaro was named the Pac-12 Lacrosse Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2022 and earned CoSIDA Second Team Academic All-American honors – both firsts for the program.
Throughout her Cal tenure, Eubanks emphasized a commitment to the community as the program worked with a long list of outside organizations, including HEADstrong, Oakland Lacrosse, One Love, Steph Strong, and Morgan’s Message, among others. The topics addressed included cancer, domestic violence and healthy relationships, inclusion, mental health, and suicide prevention.
During Eubanks’ time as head coach, the lacrosse program also supported Bears United, a student-athlete group founded by lacrosse student-athlete Riely Drullinger that champions diversity, acceptance and inclusion for the LGBTQIA+ community and beyond. Several members of the program also founded the GoBears GoVote initiative – an effort to get every student-athlete at Cal registered to vote prior to the 2020 election – while also participating heavily in Cal’s Racial Justice Council.
Catherine Roxas, who played four seasons for Eubanks before earning her Cal degree in May of 2022, was honored with the IWLCA’s Community Awareness Award in 2021 for her role as one of the founders of Go Bears Go Vote.
“We want to thank Brooke for all of her hard work and the leadership she has provided for our lacrosse program over the past eight seasons,” Cal Director of Athletics Jim Knowlton said. “Brooke’s teams were competitive on the field, and she has put our program in a position for future success by laying a tremendous foundation. The program also always excelled in the classroom and the community under Brooke’s leadership. We are grateful for all that she has done to develop young women during their time at Cal, and we wish Brooke and her family all of the best in their future endeavors.”
A national search to replace Eubanks will begin immediately. Associate Head Coach Denise Wescott will serve as interim head coach.