Joanne McCallie Named New Duke Women's Basketball Coach

DURHAM, N.C. — Joanne P. McCallie has been named the head women’s basketball coach at Duke University, athletics director Joe Alleva announced Wednesday.

McCallie will be introduced to the Duke community at a press conference on Friday at 1:30 p.m., in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

McCallie will be making her way to Durham via Michigan State were she spent the past seven seasons as head coach while leading the Spartans to a 149-75 mark. She led Michigan State to five straight NCAA Tournament appearances, four straight 20-win seasons and an appearance in the NCAA Championship game in 2005. She molded Michigan State basketball into one of the elite programs in the nation, which includes an 81-23 record over the last three years.

“We are elated to have Joanne McCallie taking over our women’s basketball program,” Alleva said. “I would like to thank the members of the committee that helped us conduct this search as they did a wonderful job in the process. Joanne has accomplished so much at both Maine and Michigan State and we feel she is one of the top coaches in the game today. 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.”

McCallie guided Michigan State to its best season in school history in 2004-05 as the Spartans advanced to the National Championship game, won a school-record 33 games, won a school-record 14 Big Ten games, while sharing their second Big Ten regular-season championship, won their first Big Ten Tournament title, finished 13-0 at home, had a school-record 17-game winning streak and beat 13 nationally-ranked teams, including four teams ranked No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 nationally.

“This is a wonderful appointment for Duke,” said Duke President Richard H. Brodhead. “Throughout her career, Joanne McCallie has been associated with excellence. She is an accomplished coach and teacher who understands the importance Duke gives to the development of our players as students and as athletes. The Duke Women’s team is in very good hands.”

After leading Michigan State to a remarkable season in 2004-05, McCallie was named National Coach of the Year by the Associated Press, Basketball Times, and Nike, as well as being voted Big Ten Coach of the Year by the league’s media. She was also selected the 2005 Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan College Coach of the Year.

McCallie, 41, led the Spartans to a 24-9 record this past season, which included a trip to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Michigan State produced a 13-3 overall record to place third in the Big Ten.

“The entire McCallie family is absolutely thrilled about the opportunity to serve at Duke,” said McCallie. “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 the carry themselves. We are very grateful to the President Brodhead, Joe Alleva and Jacki Silar for their support and for this awesome opportunity.”

Over the summer of 2006, McCallie guided the USA Basketball U-20 team to a 5-0 record and a gold medal in the FIBA Americas Championships in Mexico City. The squad outscored its opponents by 62 points per game and set 28 U-20 records in the event.

A native of Brunswick, Maine, McCallie owns a career mark of 316-148 during her 15-year stint as a head coach at Maine and Michigan State. As a coach and player, she has led her teams to 13 conference titles, 16 NCAA Tournament appearances, five NCAA Sweet 16 appearances, four NCAA Elite Eight appearances, three NCAA Final Four appearances and three NCAA Championship game appearances.

During her eight-year stint at Maine, McCallie guided the Black Bears to seven straight 20-win campaigns, including a 20-11 overall record in 1999-2000 and their sixth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance. She was named coach of the year on three occasions, twice in the North Atlantic Conference (1995 and 1996) and once in the America East (1999).

Prior to becoming Head Coach at Maine in 1992-93, McCallie was an assistant coach at Auburn from 1988-92. As the team’s primary recruiter, she helped sign the fourth-ranked class in the nation in 1990-91 and the 16th-ranked class in the nation in 1991-92. While at Auburn, McCallie and the Tigers appeared in two national championship games and made an appearance in the NCAA Elite Eight.

The former Joanne Palombo, prior to getting married to John McCallie, played her collegiate basketball at Northwestern from 1984-87. She still ranks seventh in Wildcat history with 378 career assists. As a senior, she was an All-Big Ten honorable mention selection and helped lead the Wildcats to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. McCallie also was named Academic All-Big Ten First-Team as a senior.

McCallie graduated from Northwestern in 1987 with a degree in political science and earned a master’s degree in business administration from Auburn in 1990.

The McCallie family includes husband John, daughter Madeline (Maddie) and son John Wyatt (Jack).

McCallie will be the fourth head coach in Duke University women’s basketball history as she replaces Gail Goestenkors, who took over the help at Texas earlier this month. The Blue Devils return three starters and nine letterwinners from their 32-2 squad that advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16.

The McCallie File

Name: Joanne Palombo McCallie

Family: Husband - John McCallie, Ph.D.; Children - Madeline (Maddie) and John Wyatt (Jack)

Place of Birth: Monterey, Calif.

Education: Northwestern (B.S., political science, 1987); Auburn (M.A., business administration, 1990)

Collegiate Athletic Experience: Basketball (Northwestern 1984-87)

Coaching Experience:

Auburn (Assistant Coach, 1988-92);

Maine (Head Coach, 1992- 2000);

Michigan State (Head Coach, 2000-present)

Team USA U-20 (2006)

Coaching Honors:

• National Coach of the Year by the Associated Press, Basketball Times and Nike (2005)

• Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan College Coach of the Year (2005)

• North Atlantic Conference Coach of the Year (1995, 1996)

• America East Conference Coach of the Year (1999)

• Big Ten Conference Coach of the Year (2005)

• 11 NCAA Tournament appearances as head coach (Maine: 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000; Michigan State: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007)

• Five conference championships (Maine: 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999; Michigan State: 2005)