Photo by: Columbia University Athletics / Josh Wang
Griffith Named Court Coach for USA Basketball U18 National Team Trials
5/23/2026 5:04:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Columbia head coach earns her first USA Basketball assignment
NEW YORK – Lavine Family Head Coach of Women's Basketball Megan Griffith '07CC has been named a court coach for USA Basketball U18 National Team Trials. The trials are being held in advance of the 2026 FIBA U18 Women's AmeriCup.
Trials begin May 30 at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Griffith will coach and evaluate 22 athletes to form USA Basketball's 12-member team for the AmeriCup, which is scheduled for June 9-15 in Irapuato, Mexico.
"It is a true honor to be part of USA Basketball," said Griffith on her first USA Basketball assignment. "I look forward to learning and growing alongside some of the best coaching minds in college basketball while preparing the U18 team to win gold at the AmeriCup."
Griffith is the all-time winningest coach in Columbia women's basketball history, owning a 171-99 (.633) overall record. She is a three-time Ivy League Coach of the Year, two-time Maggie Dixon Met Coach of the Year, three-time Asian Coaches Association Coach of the Year and was named a national finalist for the 2024-25 WBCA NCAA Division I Coach of the Year Award.
This past season, Griffith coached the Lions to a 25-8 overall record on their way to winning the Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT). The Lions dominated the entire way, trailing for a total of 3 minutes and 9 seconds throughout the five games combined. In winning the WBIT, Columbia became the first Ivy League men's or women's basketball team to win a major national postseason tournament since the Princeton men won the 1975 NIT.
Over the last five years, Griffith's teams have averaged 25 wins per season and posted a combined 125-35 (.781) overall record, including a 61-9 (.871) mark in the Ivy League. They have advanced to a national postseason tournament all five of those years, including the 2023 WNIT Championship Game, at-large bids to the 2024 and 2025 NCAA Tournaments, and the WBIT this past season. The 2024-25 season included Columbia's first NCAA Tournament victory, erasing a 13-point halftime deficit to defeat Washington, 63-60, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Participants at the upcoming USA Basketball trials will represent the high school graduating classes of 2026, 2027 and 2028. Team selection is made by the USA Basketball Women's Junior National Team Committee. Click here for more information.
FOLLOW THE LIONS
For the latest on Columbia women's basketball, follow @CULionsWBB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, or on the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.
Trials begin May 30 at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Griffith will coach and evaluate 22 athletes to form USA Basketball's 12-member team for the AmeriCup, which is scheduled for June 9-15 in Irapuato, Mexico.
"It is a true honor to be part of USA Basketball," said Griffith on her first USA Basketball assignment. "I look forward to learning and growing alongside some of the best coaching minds in college basketball while preparing the U18 team to win gold at the AmeriCup."
Griffith is the all-time winningest coach in Columbia women's basketball history, owning a 171-99 (.633) overall record. She is a three-time Ivy League Coach of the Year, two-time Maggie Dixon Met Coach of the Year, three-time Asian Coaches Association Coach of the Year and was named a national finalist for the 2024-25 WBCA NCAA Division I Coach of the Year Award.
This past season, Griffith coached the Lions to a 25-8 overall record on their way to winning the Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT). The Lions dominated the entire way, trailing for a total of 3 minutes and 9 seconds throughout the five games combined. In winning the WBIT, Columbia became the first Ivy League men's or women's basketball team to win a major national postseason tournament since the Princeton men won the 1975 NIT.
Over the last five years, Griffith's teams have averaged 25 wins per season and posted a combined 125-35 (.781) overall record, including a 61-9 (.871) mark in the Ivy League. They have advanced to a national postseason tournament all five of those years, including the 2023 WNIT Championship Game, at-large bids to the 2024 and 2025 NCAA Tournaments, and the WBIT this past season. The 2024-25 season included Columbia's first NCAA Tournament victory, erasing a 13-point halftime deficit to defeat Washington, 63-60, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Participants at the upcoming USA Basketball trials will represent the high school graduating classes of 2026, 2027 and 2028. Team selection is made by the USA Basketball Women's Junior National Team Committee. Click here for more information.
FOLLOW THE LIONS
For the latest on Columbia women's basketball, follow @CULionsWBB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, or on the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.
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