Duke's Goestenkors named AP Coach of the Year

Posted Monday, April 2, 2007

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Duke coach earns another national award.

Durham, NC - Duke coach Gail Goestenkors was the driving force behind the Blue Devils' perfect regular season. Her success was honored Saturday, when she received The Associated Press' women's basketball coach of the year award.

"It's a great honor and a tribute to this team, the players and what they gave to the program," Goestenkors said. "They were able to accept and embrace new roles."

Goestenkors, who has won nearly 400 games in her career at Duke, was a runaway winner for coach of the year with 40 votes. North Carolina State's Kay Yow - a sentimental choice after returning from treatment for breast cancer - had six votes.

Goestenkors said she was accepting the award for Yow.

"My job is easy compared to what she has been through," Goestenkors said of Yow. "She embodies what all coaches should strive for. We should all aspire to be like her."

Goestenkors guided the Blue Devils to a 29-0 record in the regular season - the first ACC team to do so and 14th in NCAA history. She also led Duke to an NCAA-record seventh straight 30-win season.

The Blue Devils suffered their first loss in the ACC tournament semifinals, falling to N.C. State. Her team was No. 1 in the AP poll for the season's final nine weeks and the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Duke's season came to an abrupt end when the Blue Devils fell to Rutgers 53-52 in the Greensboro Regional semifinals.

"She is a great teacher and great motivator," Duke senior guard Harding said. "She's just someone who cares about her players, who would do the best for her players before anything."

A seven-time Atlantic Coast Conference coach of the year, the 44-year-old Goestenkors' future at Duke is unclear. Considered the top candidate for the vacancy at Texas, where Jody Conradt announced her resignation March 12, Goestenkors interviewed with the Longhorns on Wednesday.

"I would like to make the decision as soon as possible for peace of mind and peace of heart," Goestenkors said Saturday. "Texas is a job that I've always thought was one of the best jobs in the country."