Duke’s Joanne P. McCallie resigns as women’s basketball coach
Joanne P. McCallie has resigned as Duke’s women’s basketball coach after 13 seasons, the school announced Thursday morning.
The decision is effective immediately.
McCallie informed the team during a Zoom call earlier Thursday before the school made the announcement.
In a video message posted on the team’s Twitter account, McCallie said she was stepping away because she is entering the final year of her contract and no agreement on an extension has been reached.
“As a coach in the final year of my contract, uncertainty is natural and it takes away from confidence and fun,” McCallie said. “I am pretty sure there is a level of uncertainty amongst the Duke family. I want to bring clarity with great pride for all.”
McCallie posted a 330-107 (.755) overall record and was named ACC Coach of the Year three times during her tenure at Duke, which began when she replaced Gail Goestenkors in 2007.
Even though she is owed her final year of salary, McCallie said she has “chosen to forgo the majority of my final year of compensation to support my staff during this incredibly challenging and transitional time overall.”
Junior guard Mikayla Boykin, from Clinton, said McCallie started recruiting her as a sixth-grader. Boykin committed to Duke two years later as an eighth-grader. So her relationship with McCallie is deep.
She said the the hearing McCallie say she was leaving was tough.
“It was a very emotional call,” Boykin said. “It’s just something we had to process for a while. It was hard for us to respond. It was something that you wouldn’t expect. Coach P has been at Duke a long time. She’s done so much for so many people.”
In a statement on Thursday morning, Duke athletics director Kevin White thanked McCallie for her success with the Blue Devils.
“Here at Duke, Joanne’s extraordinary passion for excellence produced championship-level success and provided many timeless, captivating moments for both our student-athletes and fans,” White said. “To be sure, Joanne’s unwavering commitment to leadership and service has had an enormous impact on the development of countless young women over the past three decades.”
McCallie, 54, led Duke to four consecutive NCAA tournament Elite Eight appearances from 2010-2013, winning 30 or more games in three of those four seasons.
But the program’s success waned in recent seasons. In 2015-16, Duke went 20-12 and missed the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1994.
That spring, amid allegations of mistreatment of players and assistant coaches, Duke launched an internal investigation by a human resources official from outside the athletics department into the program.
A month later, White announced the investigation had been completed and McCallie would be staying on as coach.
The Blue Devils rebounded with tournament appearances the next two seasons, making the round of 16 in 2018 when they went 24-9.
But the progress stalled again when Duke finished 15-15 in 2018-19. That marked the first time Duke failed to post a winning season since the 1992-93 team went 12-15.
Duke went 18-12 last season, including a 12-6 ACC record good for third place, before the NCAA tournament was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
McCallie owns a 646-255 career record, including previous stops at Maine and Michigan State.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated
This story was originally published July 2, 2020 at 10:08 AM.