Doreen Carden’s Legacy is 25 Years and 400 Wins in the Making

Albion head women’s basketball coach Doreen Carden reached 400 career wins in an overtime victory over Kalamazoo on February 14. She became the 41st active Division III head coach to achieve this milestone and only the second in MIAA history to accomplish this feat. This is a tribute to her outstanding legacy and commitment to her team, staff, Albion and family.

DOREEN BELKOWSKI SAT in a lab, eyes glued to a microscope.

As a young cytotechnician at Henry Ford Hospital in Midtown Detroit, she examined human cell samples and detected signs of cancer.

It was a far cry from her not-so-distant past.

At one time, she was affectionately known as “Dor Bel,” a versatile, hard-nosed, and intelligent guard for Oakland University’s women’s basketball team.

Belkowski was a natural, scoring 963 points in 102 career games for the Division II Grizzlies. They totaled a record of 83-31 during her four seasons with the team.

“The type of kid that every coach wants on their team,” Oakland head men’s basketball coach, Greg Kampe, remembered.

To stay active with her first love, she coached some AAU and JV high school basketball teams in the area but was nothing too serious. 

Belkowski wanted more.

So much more that she took vacation time to work longtime Detroit Free Press high school sports writer Mick McCabe’s all-state girls basketball camp in Traverse City, Mich., each summer.

“It was kind of like a vacation,” Belkowski (now Carden) recalled.

In the summer of 2001, Albion College had an opening for its head women’s basketball coach job. McCabe always had a soft spot for Albion. He covered the likes of former Britons football coach Frank Joranko and men’s basketball coach Mike Turner dating back to the 1970’s. McCabe always appreciated the people he encountered and the atmosphere on campus. He even encouraged his children, Katie and Chris, to consider going there for school, which they later did.

Asked to be on the search committee, McCabe had his candidate in mind.

“I knew if she loved basketball enough to take a week off to come up and coach at a camp that she did a great job at, maybe she’d enjoy coaching college, even though she had absolutely no experience,” McCabe said.

“I think I was right for once.”

What followed was a career journey at Albion Carden never fathomed — 25 years and 400 wins in the making.

THE PROGRAM WAS in dire need of new life.

The Britons were coming off a 4-21 campaign. They had one winning season in 16 years and shuffled through six head coaches in that time span.

Hired in September, Carden had to quickly get a staff and plan in order ahead of the October 15 start date. Her first hire — future husband, Scott, as assistant coach.

Scott and Doreen had first been introduced to each other at a high school basketball game when both were coaching at that level. They had started dating just prior to Doreen taking the job at Albion.

Scott, who played baseball at Bowling Green, started out coaching both sports for the Britons before he became the head baseball coach for over 20 years.

Having Scott help with logistics such as travel planning allowed for Doreen to focus more on the game and her high basketball IQ.

“It was one of those good cop/bad cop [styles],” Doreen said. “We offset each other really well.”

“She was definitely more of the bad cop,” Scott said with a laugh.

The players needed to be exposed to winning. Doreen could sense talent on the team (two future Albion Hall of Famers — Sarah Caskey and Stacey Supanich — were already on the squad), but they were not running a system she believed was best suited for their style of play.

They had averaged 30 turnovers a game the season prior.

“When we came in, I did more what I learned at Oakland,” Doreen said. “We slowed the game down. We were not a big, fast or athletic team, so we had to do so with the personnel we had. I learned you have to adjust to what you have and not make them do stuff they can't do.

“It was about putting them in situations to succeed.”

It did not take long for the team to buy in. They won their first five games — including an overtime victory against Goshen in the first game of the season. It was also the program’s best start to a season in 17 years.

The Britons improved their win total by 13 games. They ended the season 17-6 and won their first MIAA Tournament game since 1994.

Another highlight of Carden’s first year was beating Hope twice in the regular season. Hope was the defending MIAA Tournament champions and had made the NCAA Tournament in three of the past four seasons.

“Us slowing the game down and giving other teams fewer offensive possessions really worked in our favor,” Carden said. “That first year was a good turning point that set the standard for future teams.”

Two seasons later, Albion won their first MIAA Tournament title in program history and made their first NCAA Tournament appearance. The next year, despite losing in the MIAA Championship game, they again qualified for the NCAA Tournament and won their first game against Denison.

AUTUMN HAGGADONE FELT at home.

It was her first visit to Albion, having come during her senior year at Goodrich High School near Flint, Mich.

As a basketball recruit taking in a football game that fall afternoon, the first person to greet her and say goodbye was Carden. 

“She has just a very welcoming, warm and mother-like personality,” Haggadone said. 

That visit helped spawn a four-year playing career for the Britons from 2007-11. She also was a team captain for Carden as a senior.

Preparation was always key for a Carden-led team.

“Our practices were intense and competitive,” Haggadone said. “I just remember practices being hard, if not harder than games. So that way for games, our team was prepared. She always talked about playing like you practice. We were prepared for situations where we had to battle back from being down, because we practiced it every day.”

After graduating from Albion with a teaching degree, Haggadone taught at Leslie High School south of Lansing, Mich., for three years. 

In 2015, she received a call from Carden about an open assistant coaching position she had at Albion.

Haggadone had been coaching JV basketball at Leslie but had never considered coaching at the collegiate level.

She was content with teaching, so she declined Carden’s offer.

A follow up call from Scott made Haggadone think deeper about her decision.

“He was like, ‘I want you to really think about what you’re turning down,’” Haggadone remembered. 

She had a similar background to Carden in their early post-playing days. Carden could sense Haggadone’s high basketball IQ and demand of excellence from her teammates and thought those traits would transition well to a spot on her staff.

“I knew she was going to have more trust in me, because I played for four years and was a captain,” Haggadone said. “If I was going to turn my career path from education into coaching, this would be the best way to do it. I took a little bit of a leap of faith at the time.”

In her two seasons as an assistant coach, Haggadone immersed herself into every area of the program. She worked with post players in practice and prepared scouting reports while also completing itineraries and travel plans for the team.

Her experiences set her up for an assistant job at Division II Northwood in Midland, Mich., before becoming head coach four years later in 2021. She was named G-MAC Coach of the Year following the 2024-25 season.

“Coach Carden really had that faith and trust that I could do everything,” Haggadone said. “I did it at Albion, so I had the experience that I needed. I wouldn't be sitting where I am today if I hadn't taken that leap of faith.”

CARDEN’S LEGACY IS one of excellence and commitment.

She has sustained the high standard with the program throughout her 25 years despite many administrative changes at the college. The MIAA is also one of the most competitive women’s basketball conferences in Division III.

“I think you just stick with what you know and continue to go along that path,” Carden said. “I always talk about the teams before them and the success we had, and I have to make sure our teams are locked in on what we're here to accomplish.”

Carden is always learning. She regularly watches other college basketball teams and takes ideas from schemes she sees to use it for her team. She is also a frequent reader of the leadership and coaching books that grace her bookshelves in her Kresge Gymnasium office and listens to podcasts on the subject matter.

This season, she wanted to shift to a more up-tempo style of offense. It has resulted in a 13-point per game scoring average jump from last season and a 17-6 overall record. Carden has also benefited from Meghan Trewhella’s historic campaign — who is sure to continue Carden’s streak of coaching an all-conference player in each season of her career. The junior broke Caskey’s 21-year-old single-season scoring record in the same game Carden reached 400 career wins.

But Carden’s legacy is not defined solely by winning. It is one of undivided loyalty and care for her players, staff, Albion and family.

Seeing them grow and develop throughout a four-year career is what motivates and drives her to still keep coaching — 25 years and 400 wins later.

“I want kids to know everything that I've done is trying to help them in the future,” Carden said. “We're not here just to teach basketball. We’re here to prepare you for the real world. Hopefully, when the alumni are out there, they can relate things to what we've done here and understand why we did some of the things we did just to help them get through life.

“I think it all hopefully pays off for them in the long run.”