If head women's basketball coach Gail Goestenkors hasn't been around to recruit this fall, she at least had a good excuse.
Goestenkors joined the WNBA's Houston Comets head coach Van Chancellor, Charlotte Sting assistant Anne Donovan and Syracuse University head coach Marianna Freeman in coaching this year's USA Women's World Championship team.
The team--which, unlike their male counterparts, brought home a gold medal--traveled to China to take place in the 2002 games, which lasted from Sep. 14 to 25 and were previewed by a 24-day training camp and a few exhibition games.
"This is really exciting," she said. "I've learned a great deal and thoroughly enjoyed every moment, getting to know Anne, Van and Marianna, and what great people they are and also the entire team.... I'm going to take many wonderful memories home with me."
While she had to focus a lot on scouting opponents--a commitment she described paradoxically as "tedious, although it's something I'll really enjoy--she also appreciated being able to coach an extraordinary bunch of players, including World Championship MVP Lisa Leslie, WNBA MVP Sheryl Swoops and Tamika Catchings.
While traveling with the national team may have taken her away from her duties to Duke, she at least picked a good year to miss.
With the Blue Devils planning to return a strong team next year, she has said that she only wanted to recruit, at most, for two positions. In the end, it was probably for the best, considering that even this limited level of recruitment required her to make four visits in three days in late August.
"It's going to be difficult for me to leave my team for a month," she had said before leaving. "But at the same time I know I have tremendous assistants. I think it's going to be a great learning experience for them as well, because they'll have the opportunity to be in charge. Recruiting is probably my biggest worry. Because I know back here things will be taken care of because of the assistants I have and because of the team leadership."
Minor recruiting problems aside, if Goestenkors minded being absent from Duke, she didn't admit it.
"If I had the opportunity again, I would jump at the chance," she said after returning.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.