With University of Maine women’s basketball coach Joanne Palombo-McCallie leaving to take over at Michigan State, could Cindy Blodgett be back with the Black Bears in her former coach’s position?

Blodgett, the former UMaine star who plays in the WNBA during the summer and was an assistant coach at Boston University this winter, didn’t rule out the possibility that she would apply for Palombo’s job.

“I’m sure there will be lots of people who apply,” Blodgett said Monday evening from her office at BU.

“That’s kind of a loaded question,” she added. “I really can’t say right now.”

Palombo, a Brunswick native who has coached the Black Bears to six consecutive NCAA tournament appearances in eight seasons, announced Monday that she will take over the Michigan State women’s program.

UMaine recruits and basketball observers expressed shock and some resignation with Palombo’s decision to leave Orono for East Lansing.

“She’s a fixture. You talk about Maine women’s sports and she’s the coach up there,” said Brenda Beckwith, who has followed Palombo and the Black Bears as a color analyst for WZON radio. “She and [UMaine men’s hockey coach] Shawn Walsh, look what they’ve done for their programs. She’s on top now, but I guess if there’s a time to leave it’s when you’re on top.”

Palombo’s two in-state recruits for the 2000-01 season said they were surprised at the news – but both Heather Ernest and Julie Veilleux said they are excited to play for the Black Bears next year.

“It doesn’t change anything,” said Ernest, a forward/center at Mt. Blue of Farmington who was named Miss Maine Basketball Saturday. “I’m disappointed that I won’t have a chance to play for her next year, but as long as she’s happy I’m glad she has a chance to go there.”

Cony of Augusta guard-forward Veilleux said she’s curious to see who Maine hires as Palombo’s replacement.

“I’m very surprised. I didn’t know anything about it,” Veilleux said. “It’s weird to think that she’s leaving. I’d like to meet the new head coach, whoever it’s going to be.”

Beckwith said she thought Palombo was “here for the long haul.”

`I’m surprised,” said Beckwith, who hadn’t heard the news. “I didn’t think she would leave. I think all of us thought, she’s a Maine kid, a Maine girl. I thought she would raise her children here.”

But Blodgett and Phil and Helen Locke, members of the Friends of Maine Women’s Basketball, were resigned to the fact that Palombo would eventually leave the Bears.

“I’m not surprised,” Blodgett said. “She’s been at Maine a long time and she’s done well. It’s not surprising that she wants to go elsewhere.”

The Lockes, who recently returned from California, where they watched UMaine lose to North Carolina in the first round of the NCAA tournament, have also traveled to the America East tournament in Vermont and a regular-season tourney in Gainsville, Fla., this season.

“She’s ready to make a change, but we’re gonna miss her,” said Helen Locke, who is the secretary of the Friends group. “We had a good ride with her. She’s taken us to places we never thought we’d go.”

Beckwith was also somewhat surprised that Palombo is leaving for Michigan State, a middle-of-the-pack Big Ten team that has played in the shadow of the men’s team for years – a reversal of Palombo’s situation at Maine.

This season the Spartans finished 19-12 and got to the quarterfinals of the WNIT, while the men, which features top players like All-American Mateen Cleaves, will face Wisconsin this weekend for a berth in the national championship game.

“I don’t know anything about Michigan State,” Beckwith said. “I mean, you take a Rutgers and I can probably name at least one kid on that team.”

As for the possibility that Blodgett would be hired for the position, Locke said she would be surprised if the former UMaine star was picked for the job after one season of collegiate coaching, if she even applies for it.

“I think we need someone who can take this team to the next level,” she said. “Joanne brought them up, but someone has to take them to the next level.”