The Guru Report: The Hunt Begins for a Successor After McCallie’s Resignation at Duke

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

 

It was the early spring of 1988, Auburn had made it to the Women’s Final Four in Tacoma, Wash., and future Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame coach Joe Ciampi had invited your Guru to an evening team event for sociality.

 

Three quarters of the way through, a late arrival who had been one year removed from a playing career at Northwestern, showed up, about to be hired as an assistant while pursuing her masters degree at the Alabama power of the Southeastern Conference.

 

Thus, Joanne Palombo (yet to be married) started a road that led to head coaching success at Maine, Michigan State, and then as a successor to Duke’s Gail Goestenkors, who had been plucked by Texas.

 

The current chapter ended Thursday morning with the announcement that she had resigned from the Blue Devils.

 

Her departure adds to a now major upheaval in the women’s basketball collegiate offseason involving schools that have had reputations as national powers, all also coming at a time in a strange new world of tossed norms by the Coronavirus.

 

Texas let go of Karen Aston and grabbed Mississippi State’s Vic Schaefer (replaced by Old Dominion’s Nikki McCray), while Muffet McGraw sprung a public surprise retire announcement (replaced by former Irish star and top assistant Niele Ivey) and then came Thursday’s announcement at Duke with McCallie making a video statement on the internet.

In the notable subset was Drexel’s Denise Dillon coming home to Villanova after the long-running Harry Perretta ended in retirement while her aide Amy Mallon stepped up to run the Dragons.

And former WNBA star DeLisha Milton-Jones took over to look to continue the revival of Old Dominion.

 

This past season only Mississippi State was in the Top 10 mix with Texas making brief ranking appearances, Notre Dame suffering a historic dive in the wake of five starters graduating and involved with the WNBA, while Duke was not ranked but did enough to be on the NCAA radar for this time.

 

While the Duke news stunned many off Thursday’s timing, the tobacco leaves or Research Triangle petri dishes, take your pick, suggest it shouldn’t really have.

 

McCallie survived a period of player discontent several years ago and it should be noted that on Wednesday, the date of the calendar read July 1, usually a key milepost in terms of the annual measurement of contract lengths.

 

She had one year left in her Duke deal, no extension had occurred, the won-loss forecast for this season was not good even before the effect of the sports scene disruption by the pandemic enters the equation.

 

In her remarks, McCallie addressed that uncertainty of her future and desire to make sure her staff was in good financial shape in light of the current pandemic-caused conditions. 

 

Doe those who didn’t view the video, the fact that the release pointed to a resignation, not retirement, suggests some kind of arrangement made.

 

Yet in these times of economic chaos in athletic departments, from Duke’s side, why not wait another 12 months?

 

Well, the problem is nearby in Chapel Hill, where a year ago the Tar Heels, in the wake of the controversial exit of Hall of Famer Sylvia Hatchell, made a chess move grabbing Princeton’s Courtney Banghart, long considered as a future Duke successor in the next opening.

 

And as Banghart did with the Tigers making an Ivy school nationally relevant, she has it going at UNC, thus Duke is already in catch-up mode.

 

Ironically, in the current listing of all-time appearances list of coaches in the AP Women’s Basketball Poll, look at the names in proximity to McCallie, many tied to her career.

 

16. Brenda Frese (2 schools – Minnesota, Maryland) – 296

16.**- Gail Goestenkors (2 schools – Duke, Texas) – 295

18. **-Joe Ciampi, Auburn – 290

19. **-Sue Gunter (2 schools – Stephen F. Austin, LSU) – 270

19. Joanne P. McCallie (2 schools – Michigan St., Duke) – 270

 

She is one of just five of the first 28 in the category not in the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, the others being the late Penn State coach Rene Portland, retired Joan Bonvicini, who has been a recent nominee, DePaul’s Doug Bruno and Louisville’s Jeff Walz, both still active.

 

Not listed above but just below those names in the category is former Western Kentucky/Nebraska coach Paul Sanderford, also a recent nominee.

 

So now, in this dialogue it is more about moving ahead but as opposed to some of the names put forward when the news came, right now it is not as easy as it normally is to go with the short form.

 

The Hunt Begins

As referenced during the Texas hire of Vic Schaefer by athletic director Chris Del Conte, the native Texan was targeted from the outset and perhaps even might have already been gift wrapped tied in ribbons, according to sources at the time, earlier than the sequence of the transition described by the Longhorns.

 

Duke, however, is in a different place due to the virus-caused economics and thus some candidates who can be thought of automatically, they would either not to have a buyout in their current deal or if so, one extremely small.

 

Thus, while there is a temptation to make former Duke player Katie Meier, who heads Miami’s nationally successful operation, a quick frontrunner in the Schafer mode, maybe not so much.

 

However, as for a name affordable, Goestenkors, who can come cheap now and grab incentives for later to make up the difference, is ready to return to coaching, likely would love to be running the Blue Devils again, and many of the locals, who jumped overboard in recent years (boosters-donors), would be ready to provide a revenue stream.

 

It’s a situation that is equivalent to the football reunion at Rutgers with Greg Schiano.

 

To a slightly lesser extent, and one possessing Duke DNA is, if interested, Joanne Boyle, a former Blue Devils star and assistant, who then went on to coach Richmond, bring national rankings to California, and then landed at Virginia before leaving several years ago to totally focus on the adoption of her Sengalese daughter, a process that was a seven year fight.

 

Three Who Could Trigger Blessings

In terms of the influencer route before going further, three names to know are Vincent Price, not the actor, who became Duke president a year ago, athletic director Kevin White, and USA Basketball Chairman Martin Dempsey.

 

In the longshot male candidate division, the Guru mentions Price because his previous stop was as provost at Penn, a place where Quakers WBB coach Mike McLaughlin’s name gets mentioned when openings at the next level occur because of his success taking the co-landlords of the Palestra from nowhere into a program renaissance that was able to put several Ivy League title dents into Banghart’s dominance with Princeton.

 

Besides, many in this area would love to see those two go head-to-head down there in ACC country.

 

Penn athletic director Grace Calhoun, the current chair of the NCAA council, is no dummy in wanting to keep the former D-2 Holy Family mentor around for eternity, but taking care of the buyout is much less expensive then elsewhere if Duke really got interested.

 

As long as we’re dealing with the male side of things, if Duke wants to chase someone with Power 5 experience, the poster boy is Oregon aide MarK Campbell, who put two final four rosters together first at Oregon State and then Oregon.

 

Yes, beyond Kelly Graves, had a he had a hand in the recruitment of Sabrina Ionescue.

 

In fact, several sources confirmed that even Villanova took a look from their end on the way to bringing Dillon home to her Wildcats environs.

 

As for Martin Dempsey, if the UConn factor goes into play, then Geno is using connections with the chair, who would be an influential factor. 

 

Being around the USA nationals, especially with Coach K on the men’s side, the chairman would be familiar with Shea Ralph, whose roots are in Carolina, and Rizzotti, and forget for the moment that GW has been off a little the past few years.

 

Then there’s the person who will have to ultimately pull the trigger — athletic director Kevin White.

 

McGraw had a great relationship working in his operation at Notre Dame and could be expected to boost former assistant Beth Cunningham, a former head coach at VCU as well as Irish star.

 

Even though dealing with different circumstances, but just as CDC was at Texas, White may already be on point and in gear as a Long Horns notable told the Guru the day the Texas job opened.

 

During the great March shuffle after everything shut down, a coach at a power 5 out West observed that these days the hire process is more complex.

 

 Most use search firms to vet and the agents pursue the firm to get their clients into the mix. It avoids the tampering charges but still ADs have been known to send feeler signals.

 

The Minority Pool

If it’s an African American the Duke regime wants to at least get to the interview table, the Guru got from a source involved with helping minorities in coaching, a list of qualified candidates, many assistants, but it was noted the hires at Arizona, California, and Notre Dame had been assistants.

 

^ Charlotte Smith, Elon

^ Jackie Carson, Furman

^ Trina Patterson, UNCG

^ Jolette Law, USC

^ Carol Owens, Notre Dame

^ Shannon Perry, UCLA

^ Kelly Bond White, Texas A&M

^ Sytia Messer, Baylor

^ Joy Cheek, Clemson

 

Of those, when the Guru tweeted the note out early, there was a positive response on Cheek, a former Duke aide now at Clemson. 

 

But off the court she will soon expand her family, so to speak, so the question is how much that impacts taking the job.

 

The Rising Star Youth Pool

 

From the same level that saw McCray move from ODU, a three-time national champion decades ago, there’s Tina Langley at Rice, who was an assistant in the ACC At Maryland.

 

A little above her level, for now and forever, the success of Adia Barnes reviving Arizona in the PAC-12 and nationally, will always come up.

 

But last time around her name errantly came up in the Texas search.

 

After the announcement, she indicated that would have been a very tough decision. 

 

The Wildcats were home to Barnes, she revived the program, signed a big deal (that could be a killer right now), and a great follow up season lies ahead, depending on factors beyond sports.

 

Nevertheless, like Dawn Staley said of leaving Temple for South Carolina, she had done all possible and still sought ways to achieve the greater potential, which, of course, she has done.

 

So if Barnes starts feeling maxed out in the desert in terms of winning a national title, the prospects of coaxing her become greater.

 

Meanwhile in the world of the WNBA, two former Duke All-Americans and talented league veterans would have interest, Lindsay Harding, who was on the staff of the NBA 76ers, and Alana Beard, who has no coaching experience.

 

Likely, either could be hired as a coach in waiting and, likewise, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the same to happen to Cunningham, whose non-retention at Notre Dame was not tied to any negatives.

 

So that’s the playing field right now. 

 

As The WNBA Turns

 

Just a note to the many waiting for more solid information on some aspects of the WNBA season on the horizon, Florida’s situation with COVID-19 notwithstanding.

 

The powers are being challenged by other factors putting together the 22-game schedule, considering it will be alongside the NBA, besides other sports, and also the sincere desire to find decent windows.

 

Opening weekend itself on the previously stated target dates will run smack into baseball’s opening. 

In the past that occurrence and the collision with the NCAA WF4, particularly the title game, hasn’t been much of a problem, but this is quite difference.

 

So what’s better? 

Avoid the collision and potential for getting buried on the sports news front, or roll the dice that the WNBA gets its due in the weekend startup.

 

So for all of this, stay tuned.