Gail Goestenkors Duke Retrospective

Mr. Butters' Greatest Hire

In the spring of 1992, just a month or so after the Duke men's team defied history and won their second consecutive national championship, athletic director Tom Butters had to hire a new women's basketball coach. The woman who had been the architect of the program, Debbie Leonard, decided to resign after years of struggle. The program had not been fully funded in terms of scholarships or assistant coaches--let alone athletic gear and other expenses. Duke had become the ACC's punching bag, with programs like Virginia, Maryland and NC State becoming national powerhouses.

When Leonard left, Butters did something out of character. He decided to do what it took to lure a promising new coach, including funding more assistant coaches and increasing the recruiting budget. That was enough to draw 29-year-old Gail Goestenkors away from her post of chief recruiter at Purdue. She was responsible for bringing in the country's top recruiting class in 1989 and had a big role in bringing in MaChelle Joseph--one of the best Purdue players ever and the current coach of Georgia Tech. Gail was eager to build her own program and secured what she wanted from the visionary Butters. After all, Butters was the man who had hired Steve Spurrier and the man who hired Mike Krzyzewski. Later on, he would say that Goestenkors was his best-ever hire: high praise indeed. In many ways, Gail had the toughest task of the three, because at least those other two programs had tradition to fall back on. The only tradition Duke had was the legacy of one great player [Editor's Note: A player that you will be hearing more about from us very soon...] and Leonard's failure to capitalize on this. If Gail had one object lesson in front of her, it was this: don't build a team, build a program.

Gail was just 6 years older than I was at the time of her hire, a fact that astounds me even today. Up til that time, I had followed the women's team when I could, but the constant & crushing defeats were dispiriting. Gail's optimism and ambition were both palpable, and I was intrigued at her vow to field a running & pressing team. Her first squad provided her with considerable challenges. The team started the year with just 8 healthy players, a handicap that Gail would face again later in her career.

Struggling to Compete

Like so many seasons prior, Duke began the 1993 season winning their first 7 games against mostly unimpressive competition, but when the ACC campaign began Duke suffered setback after setback. The Devils lost their first 8 conference games, most of them in double figures. This included 2 losses to Wake Forest, a team Duke has not lost to since. After losing that eighth game on the road against Clemson, a despondent Coach G turned to her assistants and said, "We need an easy win in the worst way. Who's the doormat of the league, one anyone can get an easy win against?" Gale Valley turned to her and said, "Coach...it's us!" Gail absorbed that for a second and grew angry, saying that it was not acceptable for Duke to be the league's cellar-dweller, and that they were going to sweep the rest of the league games! Well, that didn't quite happen, but Duke did go 3-5 the rest of the way. That included wins over NC State and #20 Clemson.

Her first Duke team didn't have a lot of talent, quickness or depth, but there were some nice parts to work with. Sophomore Carey Kauffman was moved around from position to position, and started to settle in as a reliable scorer & rebounder. Gail inherited two freshmen who quickly became part of the rotation out of necessity: guard Jen Scanlon and forward Ali Day. Day was up-and-down as a frosh, but Scanlon settled in to become a tough, reliable & gritty player. She was never a superstar, but always put forth the same effort, game-in and game-out. The season ended with a painful loss in the ACC tournament to Wake Forest. Gail noted that she had to spend most of that season trying to coax and encourage her players as much as possible and felt like she couldn't push them.

That attitude ended the next year, after Gail had hauled in one of the top recruiting classes in the country. That season also saw the coaching debut of Joanne Boyle, who joined the Duke staff after a few years playing pro ball overseas. She and Gail were the same age. The jewels of that frosh class would be guard Kira Orr and post Tye Hall, but both only showed flashes of their future greatness in 1994. Instead, Gail wrung out every bit of talent from her veterans, including senior defensive specialist Nicole Johnson, Kauffman, Scanlon and an improved Day.

The 1994 team came agonizingly close to being eligible for post season play, starting the year 16-7 before losing their last four games. That included two winnable road games against Florida State and Georgia Tech. Of course, the team picked up a huge road win against Clemson and earned a hard-fought victory over NC State. The game I remember most was the comeback win against Maryland in Cameron. The Terps were still a national power under Chris Weller and were a couple of years away from their pre-Brenda Frese decline. The Terps led by 13 at the half, but Duke chipped away. Kira Orr had a key late basket and Scanlon hit the go-ahead shot to give Duke a 62-60 win. I remember Gail exulting near the locker room after that victory and hearing her players screaming with delight.

Finally Breaking Through

The 1995 team learned from their struggles of a year earlier and returned virtually every key contributor. It was the first Duke team that won 20 games. It was only the second Duke team to go to the NCAA tournament. More than anything, it was the first Duke team that opened up the possibilities of the future: league titles, NCAA wins, Final Fours, and more. It was the first team to draw a significant crowd into Cameron since attendance was charged. But most importantly, it was the first team that matched the coach's intensity and passion. When Gail was younger, she was really hard on her players. She always wanted to be known as a coach who demanded a lot, but always let her players know that she loved them.

The first big highlight of the season was beating UNC in Cameron. Gail's team had given the Heels a tough game a year earlier, but this time they were riding a 30 game winning streak and defending their national title. In a game marked by its intensity and physical play, Duke forged a 72-72 tie with seconds left and the ball. The ball was inbounded and went to Day after its original target, Scanlon, was too heavily covered. Day took the ball, fired a baseline jumper and watched the ball bounce three times on the rim before it dropped in and the buzzer sounded. The crowd rushed the court and the team started believing in their coach's dreams. It's hard to put into words what that win meant: players like senior Zeki Blanding were openly weeping. I told Gail that this was the start of something big.

The team's belief led to their first ACC Tournament win since 1985, over a Clemson team that had beaten them twice in the regular season. That was just the prelude to the drama of the ACC semis, when "Kardiac" Kira Orr hit not one, but two, buzzer-beaters against Virginia. The first sent the game into overtime, the second won the game. This was against a squad that had gone undefeated in the ACC regular season, whom the Devils had only defeated 5 times prior to this game against 28 losses. The Devils got whipped in the first ACC final, but did make it to the NCAA tournament. After winning just their second NCAA game ever, they lost to host Alabama in a mind-bending 4-OT game. While Duke won some big games, they still hadn't reached their major goals. Still, there's no question that this team greatly exceeded expectations.

1996 was a year with some heightened expectations. They won a record number of games (26) and ACC games (12), finishing second in the league. Hall and Orr were now big stars, while Scanlon and Day were regular double-digit scorers. Gail pulled in another excellent frosh class, this one headlined by point guard Hilary Howard and post Payton Black. The Devils won 12 of their first 13 games, swept UNC for only the third time in history, and even clinched home-court advantage in the NCAA tournament. Duke had their best attendance ever, spotlighted by the UNC game which drew over 6,000 fans. The Devils also picked up their first win over Virginia, a significant highlight for Coach G. Speaking of career highlights, Gail picked up her first ACC Coach of the Year award for her efforts, while both Day and Hall finished second team All-ACC. Duke was upset by 12 seed San Francisco in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, a crushing blow for the seniors who had worked so hard to get the team to this point. It was especially awful for Day, who wound up going scoreless in her final game. Still, the Devils would return Black (one of the best frosh in the ACC), Orr and Hall.

The results in 1997 were not what was expected given the program's forward momentum up til that point. Part of that was due to injuries to seniors Hall and Windsor Coggeshall, but the team started 2-4 in the ACC and was trounced twice by UNC. The Devils did rally with several key ACC wins to secure an NCAA berth. The most memorable, and perhaps the most exciting game I've ever seen in Cameron, was a 96-95 OT win over NC State. The Wolfpack led by 9 at the half and had the game well in hand down the stretch before Kardiac Kira went on another of her scoring binges. Her 32-point night was highlighted by a 30-foot bomb she hit with two players draped all over her that sent the game into overtime. Kira then grabbed a key rebound of a missed free throw in the OT and ran away from everyone before they could foul her, ending the game. Duke beat Maryland in OT in the ACC tournament before UNC won a close game over them, but this wasn't enough for Duke to host an NCAA game. Duke lost in the second round yet again, and it was Gail's mission to get her team into the third round.

1998 didn't seem like it would be the season that would feature a number of breakthroughs, and yet it did. Minus all-time greats Orr & Hall, the team fell into shape behind Howard as its leader and the wondrous talents of soph Peppi Browne as its defensive ace. Black was a dependable post scorer. However, the real impact players were a pair of transfers from Purdue: hard-nosed shooter Nicole Erickson and skilled 6-6 center Michele Van Gorp. They brought a toughness to the program that was much-needed, even if both needed time to adjust. Duke was starting to play a tougher schedule, one that gained it notice and consistent rankings. The Devils played Illinois, Florida, Notre Dame and UCLA, games that got them ready for the ACC. Behind the players noted above and the all-around talents of frosh Georgia Schweitzer, Duke won the ACC regular season for the first time, earning Gail her second ACC coach of the year nod.

The season got off to a bit of a rocky start. Duke started the year 10-5, losing listlessly to UCLA in Cameron in a game where Howard looked completely lost. The Devils turned it around with three dominating wins in a row against top rivals NC State, Virginia (in a huge blowout), and Clemson. Duke was upset in their next game, but then proceeded to rattle off 7 straight wins. That included a huge home win against UNC and an overtime win at Virginia that clinched their first regular-season crown. The Heels beat Duke in an ACC tournament rematch, but Duke got home court advantage once again. This time around, they blew through the first two games with ease. Duke then knocked off Florida, a team that had beaten them earlier in the year, for the program's first appearance in the Elite Eight. The Devils were a bit tight in the regional final against upstart Arkansas and lost a tight game where their threes didn't fall. Brown & Erickson were named to the All-West Regional team, but the best news was that everyone would return for another campaign.

Portents of a Powerhouse

The 1999 season is what I consider the end of the first part of Gail's tenure at Duke. Going to the finals that season opened up a lot more recruiting doors for her, and she was able to assemble teams with the best talent available. What's remarkable is how good her teams were and how much her players improved from season to season before she had access to the nation's elite talent. This was partly out of necessity of course; if Gail didn't get the most out of players like Day, Van Gorp, etc then her teams weren't going to do much. She was tough on those players, but they responded and grew.

That season began with a televised beating at the hands of UConn and led to 2 more early defeats. Half the team was either injured or recovering from injury, and it showed early on. Finally, Duke went on the road and picked up a confidence-boosting win against Vanderbilt. The Devils lost again to three-time defending champion Tennessee in the first meeting between the programs, but the Devils learned a lot from that game. After that loss, Duke rolled to 16 straight wins. That included a revenge win on the road against UCLA, an epic beatdown of UNC in Carmichael and an astonishing comeback against Virginia. Duke was down 18 to the Hoos, but Browne's defense and a full-court press brought the Devils all the way back. Clemson upset Duke on the road, but Duke finished with a dominating 15-1 record in the ACC. Their last game was against UNC, and it was attended by over 8,000 fans and even had a "G-ville" tent camped outside of it. After the Senior Day speeches (where Hibby Howard thanked "the sixth woman"), fans and players alike started chanting "Final Four!"

After losing to Clemson in the ACC semis, Duke embarked on that Final Four run. They barely got by St Joseph's in the second round in Cameron, but that was enough to get them to Greensboro. They handled an exceedingly tough Old Dominion team before having to face the 900-pound gorilla of Tennessee. With senior Chamique Holdsclaw and junior Tamika Catchings, they had an astonishing amount of firepower, size, power and quickness. Coach G saw some cracks in their armor and her team expertly applied her game plan. Duke used a man-to-man on made baskets and a triangle-and-two (with the two being Holdsclaw & Catchings) on missed baskets, and this slowed down the Lady Vols considerably. Gail threw Browne and Rochelle Parent at Holdsclaw the whole game--two of the best defenders in Duke history, as it would turn out--and the result was a 2-18 disaster for the Tennessee star. Gail bet that UT couldn't hit enough jumpers to get back in the game if Duke jumped out to a lead, and soph Schweitzer boldly nailed 3-4 from three and dropped 22 points on the Lady Vols. I'll never forget the image of Gail jumping up and down on the sidelines as the game was winding down, hugging senior Naz Medhanie. I've never seen her quite that exuberant since that game.

Duke would go on to dominate Georgia in the national semifinals, but fall apart against #1 Purdue in the finals. Duke had 20 turnovers, no one could hit a three and everyone involved got a little star-struck down the stretch. Looking back, it was much like this year's title game, with Rutgers echoing the Blue Devils. Still, it was an amazing season. Duke's witty & telegenic players were the hit of the Final Four during a week where Durham was Hoops Central because both men's and women's teams were in the Final Four. Despite the great year, one could sense a bit of frustration from Gail--she wanted to win the title so badly she could taste it, and she wanted to be surrounded by players who wanted to win as badly as she did. Her intensity burned hotter than ever, and this would lead to some tensions between her and the players in later years.