College Basketball Notebook | McCallie new coach at Duke

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.

She guided the Spartans to the 2005 national championship game and succeeds Gail Goestenkors, who left for Texas after a 15-year run at Duke. 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 title 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."

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.

Tia Jackson, Goestenkors' assistant the past two seasons at Duke, was named coach of the Washington women's program on April 6.

McCallie — 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.

Rutgers coach gets book deal

Rutgers women's coach C. Vivian Stringer signed a deal to write a book about her life.

The book, tentatively titled "Stepping Up and Standing Tall," is scheduled to be released by Crown Books in 2008.

Stringer and her players were the focus of a nationwide debate on race and gender over the last two weeks after derogatory remarks were directed at them by syndicated radio host Don Imus, who was eventually fired by CBS. The remarks were made after Rutgers' 59-46 loss to Tennessee in the national championship game.

Stringer, the third-winningest women's basketball coach in NCAA Division I history with 777 victories, is the only coach to take three different schools to the Final Four. She has overcome several personal tragedies, including the death of her husband in 1992.

Notes

• Joe Frager was appointed coach at Fairfield, weeks after leading the Southern Connecticut State women to a Division II title.

• Seldom-used UCLA sophomore Ryan Wright has decided to transfer to another school.

Wright, a 6-foot-8 forward-center, averaged 1.3 points and 0.9 rebounds. He appeared in 28 of UCLA's 36 games this season.