McCallie named Duke women’s coach Maine native leaves Spartans

Joanne P. McCallie was hired as Duke’s women’s basketball coach, leaving Michigan State and following the AP national coach of the year at one of the country’s premier programs.

The former University of Maine coach guided the Spartans to the 2005 national championship game and succeeds Gail Goestenkors, who left for Texas. McCallie informed Michigan State’s players of her decision Wednesday and will be introduced at a news conference Friday in Durham, N.C.

“She elevated the Michigan State program to a new level, and we look forward to her continuing the tremendous tradition we have established at Duke,” Duke athletic director Joe Alleva said.

The 41-year-old McCallie leaves the Spartans less than a month after signing a new contract that boosted her base salary by about $100,000, and two years after the best season in school history.

Michigan State won a school-record 33 games in 2005 and capped a memorable season by reaching the national championship game. The run earned McCallie the national coach of the year award from The Associated Press.

“The entire McCallie family is absolutely thrilled about the opportunity to serve at Duke,” McCallie said. “This has been a dream job of mine for many years. We cannot wait to meet and get to know a team that we are so very impressed by academically, as well as athletically, and by the way (they) carry themselves.”

Goestenkors earned the award after leading the Blue Devils to the first 29-0 regular season in school and Atlantic Coast Conference history. Duke finished 32-2 – an NCAA-record seventh straight 30-win season.

She led Duke to five straight ACC tournament championships from 2000-04, 13 consecutive NCAA tournaments and at least two wins in each appearance in the NCAAs since 1997.

McCallie, who played high school basketball at Brunswick High School, became in 1983 the first Maine schoolgirl basketball player to be named to the Parade Magazine All-America team.

She coached the Black Bears for eight seasons, leading Maine to seven straight 20-win seasons and six straight NCAA Tournament berths. She earned conference coach of the year honors three times.

Duke has reached the national championship game twice, most recently in 2006, and finished this season No. 1 in the final AP poll of the season. Now, the Blue Devils are counting on McCallie to help them take the next step – their first national title.

McCallie – colloquially known as “Coach P” because of her maiden name, Palombo – has a career record of 316-148 in 15 seasons at Michigan State and Maine. She leaves Michigan State after going 149-75 in seven seasons there, and reaching the past five NCAA tournaments. The Spartans’ season came to an abrupt end with a 70-57 loss to Rutgers in the second round.

“We deeply appreciate the time, energy and effort that Joanne put into building a Big Ten contender and for placing MSU women’s basketball on the national map,” Michigan State athletic director Ron Mason said. “She has built a solid foundation for the program.”

After being rumored as a candidate for several high-profile jobs, McCallie signed a five-year contract worth $500,000 a year plus a possible $143,000 in incentives on March 24 – coincidentally, the same day Duke’s season ended with a last-second loss to those same Scarlet Knights in the regional semifinals.