Joanne Palombo-McCallie did a little postseason job browsing in Florida over the weekend, but the University of Maine women’s basketball coach wasn’t buying.

The Black Bears’ fourth-year coach reportedly was among three finalists for the vacant coaching position at Florida State University in Tallahassee. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported Saturday that Palombo, University of Washington coach Chris Gobrecht and Louisiana Tech assistant Mel Fortin, who is on leave while working with the U.S. Olympic team, were the three finalists.

Florida State associate athletic director Kim Record would not divulge the names of the candidates who have been interviewed.

Palombo said she was contacted three times by FSU officials before conceding to make the trip, but made it clear she never actually applied for the position and did not consider herself a serious candidate.

“The first couple of phone calls, I said, `No, thank you.’ I wasn’t interested,” Palombo said Tuesday night. “They convinced me to go down and take a look.”

UMaine athletic director Suzanne Tyler said she spoke Tuesday with Palombo, who indicated she will stay at Maine.

“Basically, she just said she had finally come to the decision she would be here and we shook hands,” Tyler said. “She went for a visit, and we talked about it, and today she told me what I wanted to hear.”

The Seminoles position was the second job opportunity entertained by Palombo in the past year. The 30-year-old Brunswick native had turned down an offer from Long Beach State (Calif.) last April.

Long Beach offered a $72,000 base salary with an incentive package that could push the earnings to $120,000. Yet, Palombo chose to stay after UMaine officials offered her $19,000 in salary increases and $74,000 in other program funds over a three-year period through 1997-98 as part of the then-incomplete “Realizing the Dream” proposal aimed at achieving gender equity at the university.

Palombo, who directed Maine to a 27-5 record, its second straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament and a second consecutive North Atlantic Conference crown, said she has no reason or desire to leave Maine at this time.

“I’m very happy at Maine and I’m obviously looking forward to the program growing in the direction we’re working hard to reach,” Palombo said. “Maine fans are important to me, and I want to make clear that I never applied or even showed interest.”

Tyler, who took over as Maine’s AD last summer, said she wanted Palombo to remain at Maine.

“Sure I want to keep her,” Tyler said. “We did talk about the merits of [the FSU job] and we talked about what’s good about Maine.”

Even so, Tyler said no enticements were made to help convince Palombo to stay. She is aware Maine likely could not match the financial package Florida State can offer.

“We just can’t compete financially with a school like that,” Tyler said.

Palombo currently earns $59,438 and is scheduled for an $8,000 increase for the 1996-97 season. She has guided the Bears to an 80-38 overall record (.678) in her tenure.

“I’m in the position where I can take trips, which is a benefit for your program,” Palombo said. “I don’t think there’s a down side to it. You always learn a little something in terms of the experience.”

Record explained the Seminoles’ salary offer will be competitive with the top programs in the country. Former Florida State coach Marynell Meadors, whose team went 9-20 last season, earned approximately $75,000 last season, she said.

Tyler said the job-interview process is a routine aspect of college athletics.

“It’s something people need to do sometimes to reaffirm themselves and fix in where they are,” Tyler said. “You just deal with it case by case. You try to help the person make the right decision.”

Maine interim hockey coach Greg Cronin recently was asked to apply for the head coaching job at Alaska-Anchorage, but has not interviewed for it.