| | EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Maine coach Joanne Palombo-McCallie
is the new women's basketball coach at Michigan State.
She succeeds Karen Langeland, who resigned after 24 years to
become an assistant athletic director at the school.
Palombo-McCallie, 34, who coached the Black Bears for eight
seasons, will sign a five-year contract sometime during the week,
athletic director Clarence Underwood said Monday.
The Spartans, who finished the season with a record of 19-12
overall and 8-8 in the Big Ten, return five seniors next season,
including Becky Cummings, who was second on the team in scoring and
rebounding.
Palombo-McCallie guided the Black Bears to a 167-73 record and
six NCAA Tournament appearances. Her teams won 20 games for seven
straight seasons, including a 20-11 mark this past season.
During her tenure, attendance for games at the University of
Maine reached an all-time high, averaging 3,310 fans per game last
year. Michigan State attracted an average of 1,506 fans for 14
games this past season.
A native of Brunswick, Maine, Palombo-McCallie was an assistant
at Auburn from 1988-92. She played at Northwestern from 1984-87.
Married to an economics professor at Maine, Palombo-McCallie is
expecting the couple's second child next month.
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