After meeting Friday morning with Director of Athletics Joe Alleva, Duke head coach Gail Goestenkors flew to Cleveland without deciding where she will coach next season.
A source familiar with the discussions said Goestenkors' meeting with Alleva was productive, but there is still no firm timetable for a decision.
"I would like to make the decision as soon as possible just for peace of mind and peace of heart," Goestenkors said Saturday in Cleveland. "Texas is a job that I always thought was one of the best jobs in the country, and so that was very appealing."
Goestenkors traveled to Cleveland for the festivities surrounding the 2007 Final Four. On Saturday, she accepted the Associated Press Coach of the Year award, and on Monday she will receive the same recognition from the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.
She will be met Monday by a series of supportive measures taken by the Duke community to convince her to remain at the helm of the Blue Devils. Alleva and a contingent of boosters will be in attendance as Goestenkors accepts the WBCA award.
Goestenkors will also be greeted in the Cleveland Plain-Dealer with a full-page advertisement urging her to stay at Duke. The ad was furnished by the "Friends of Duke Women's Basketball," the same group that paid for a two-page ad in The Chronicle last Thursday and a one-page ad Friday.
Since interviewing last week for the vacant head coaching position at Texas, Goestenkors has not given any public indication whether she will remain in Durham or move to Austin. The Dallas Morning News reported Thursday that Texas offered Goestenkors $800,000 to become the Longhorns' next coach.
Goestenkors' salary is not public information, but she makes less than $530,000 based on Duke's most recent tax filings.
In Austin, she toured the basketball facilities and spoke with several administrators, including Texas women's athletics director Chris Plonsky. Goestenkors and Plonsky have worked together for 10 years on Team USA business.
While in Texas, Goestenkors did not meet with any current Longhorn players. Since leaving for the interview, she has not met with the current Duke team, several Blue Devils said Thursday at the rally. She has exchanged text messages with some players-including Lindsey Harding, who was also in Cleveland this weekend to accept national awards-but she has not given the players any indication of which way she is leaning.
Duke's coach of 15 years returned to North Carolina Thursday but did not attend a support rally held that evening outside her office in the Schwartz-Butters building.
After finishing her business in Cleveland, Goestenkors' timetable is still constricted, as she leaves for Italy Friday to resume her assistant coaching duties for Team USA.
"[Goestenkors has] met with our athletic director before she went into regionals," Jackie Silar, associate athletics director and Duke's senior women's administrator, told the Durham Herald-Sun. "They talked extensively on the vision they have for women's athletics and especially for women's basketball at Duke. They've impressed upon her how much they want her to remain at Duke and coach at Duke."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.