UM’s Palombo seeks Northwestern job

Joanne Palombo-McCallie, who has directed the University of Maine women’s basketball team to unprecedented success during her seven seasons in Orono, is actively exploring other job options.

Palombo could not be reached for comment Tuesday night, but her husband, John McCallie, confirmed she traveled to Evanston, Ill., Tuesday to interview for the vacant coaching position at her alma mater, Northwestern University.

“It’s that time of year,” John McCallie said. “She’s already turned down other schools [since the season ended.]”

A published report in the Chicago Sun-Times listed Palombo among five candidates for the position vacated by Don Perrelli, who announced his retirement at the end of the season after leading the Wildcats for 15 seasons.

Former Vermont coach Cathy Inglese, now at Boston College, Virginia Tech’s Bonnie Hendrickson, Kathi Bennett of Evansville and Lisa Stockton of Tulane apparently are the other four coaches on Northwestern’s short list. Each of the five candidates led her team to the NCAA Tournament this season.

Palombo has significant ties to Northwestern, where she was a four-year letterwinner under Perelli from 1983-87. Palombo helped the Wildcats make it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament as a senior, when she was named an All-Big Ten Honorable Metion and a first-team All-Academic choice.

Palombo’s visit to the Chicago area comes nine days after UMaine’s NCAA Tournament second-round loss to Old Dominion at Norfolk, Va., where she denied a published report that she might be a candidate for coaching jobs at Northwestern and Purdue.

The Northwestern position likely would offer a significant pay raise to Palombo, or whomever is eventually selected. At UMaine, she earns a base salary of $71,673, plus revenue from youth summer clinics. Her current contract expires June 30.

Palombo is the highest paid female coach at UMaine and ranks third behind only men’s hockey coach Shawn Walsh ($95,184) and football coach Jack Cosgrove ($85,000) in compensation.

It was at Northwestern that Palombo did her first coaching stint, serving as a part-time assistant while working in the sales and marketing department of a major communications company in Chicago.

Northwestern struggled to a 12-16 record this season playing in the tough Big Ten, losing to league champion Purdue, the nation’s top-ranked team, in the conference quarterfinals on Feb. 26. Under Perelli, the Wildcats compiled a 251-181 overall record (.581).

Palombo’s continued success at UMaine coach appears to have made her a valuable coaching commodity. She has directed the Black Bears to a 147-62 overall record, a .703 winning percentage, along with five consecutive America East championships and five straight trips to the NCAA Tournament.

During her tenure, UMaine has received votes in the national Top 25 polls, posting upsets over nationally ranked teams Alabama (1995) and Western Kentucky (1998). In recent years, the Bears also have ranked among the country’s top draws for women’s basketball.

The Bears, who put 4,846 fans in the stands during the 1997-98 season, attracted an average of 3,290 this season to rank 25th in the nation on the unofficial list compiled by the University of Wisconsin.

In comparison, Northwestern checked in with 1,396 fans per contest this season and ranked 53rd among the 304 Division I programs.

The next stop for Palombo is expected to be the NCAA Women’s Final Four in San Jose, where Purdue, Duke, Georgia and Louisiana Tech will vy for the national championship.