Your Day in Women’s Basketball, July 3: Duke coach McCallie steps down
Possible replacements include Goestenkors, Beard
One of college hoops’ biggest jobs has opened up, with Duke women’s basketball head coach Joanne P. McCallie resigning on Thursday. McCallie has had difficulty on the recruiting trail on a lame-duck contract that runs up in 2021
So who might replace her? Early candidates include UCLA’s Cori Close, Elon’s Charlotte Smith, and former Duke coach Gail Goestenkors, who notched 7 Coach of the Year awards across her illustrious career. Blue Devil fans are also clamoring for a former player to take the helm, with Alana Beard emerging as a popular option on social media.
Over in the Missouri Valley Conference, Bradley’s all-freshman star Mahri Petree has kept the energy up during quarantine with her weekly “Mondays with Mahri” web show. On the show, Mahri has discussed the Bradley basketball culture, recruiting, and racial justice.
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Bradley finished in third place last season behind the typical conference darlings Drake and Missouri State, and was on the bubble to reach its first NCAA Tournament in program history before the coronavirus ended the season.
The Sparks settled on Reshanda Gray and Te’a Cooper as its replacements for Kristi Toliver and Chiney Ogwumike, both of whom will sit out this season. Gray brings a strong interior presence to the Sparks, while Cooper brings a reliable deep ball and handle to replace the smooth-shooting Toliver.
The WNBA and sports world continue to praise Maya Moore’s activism after she helped free a wrongfully convicted man, Jonathan Irons, from prison.
While no one (maybe not even Moore herself) knows if she will ever step on a WNBA court again, “whatever she does next, she will be great.”