Gail Goestenkors

Gail Goestenkors

Goestenkors in March 2009
Sport(s)	Women's basketball
Biographical details
Born	(1963-02-26) February 26, 1963 Waterford, Michigan
Playing career
1981–1985	Saginaw Valley State
Position(s)	Point guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1985–1986	Iowa State (grad. asst.)
1986–1992	Purdue (asst.)
1992–2007	Duke
2007–2012	Texas
2014	Los Angeles Sparks (asst.)
2015–present	Indiana Fever (asst.)
Head coaching record
Overall	498–163 (.753)
Accomplishments and honors
Awards
7× ACC Coach of the Year (1996, 1998, 1999, 2002–2004, 2007) Naismith Coach of the Year (2003) WBCA National Coach of the Year (2003) AP Coach of the Year (2007)
Medal record Women’s Basketball Assistant Coach for United States Olympic Games 2008 Beijing Team Competition Assistant Coach for United States FIBA World Championship for Women 2006 Brazil Team Competition Head Coach for United States FIBA Under-19 World Championship 2005 Tunis Team Competition Assistant Coach for United States Olympic Games 2004 Athens Team Competition Assistant Coach for United States FIBA World Championship for Women 2002 China Team Competition Head Coach for United States William Jones Cup 1997 Taipei Team Competition

Gail Ann Goestenkors (born February 26, 1963), is an assistant coach for the Indiana Fever. Previously, she was an assistant coach of the Los Angeles Sparks and the women's basketball head coach for The University of Texas, having accepted the position on April 3, 2007, replacing the legendary Jody Conradt. Goestenkors resigned as the head coach at Texas on March 19, 2012, stating that her heart was telling her to "take a break" from basketball. Goestenkors was the Duke University women's basketball head coach from 1992–2007. During her tenure at Duke, she led the Blue Devils to 13 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, 10 consecutive appearances in at least the Sweet Sixteen (1997–2007), and an NCAA-record seven consecutive 30-win seasons from 2000-2007.

Born in Waterford, Michigan, Goestenkors attended Saginaw Valley State University, where she played under future Purdue head coach Marsha Reall. After graduating in 1985, Goestenkors became a graduate assistant coach at Iowa State. After one season, she left to become an assistant coach at Purdue under Lin Dunn, where she remained until becoming head coach at Duke in 1992.

Goestenkors accumulated an impressive record at Duke and is one of the most accomplished women's basketball coaches in the nation. She received recognition as the ACC Coach of the Year a record 7 times (1996, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2007). In the 2001-02 season, Goestenkors led the Blue Devils to the first undefeated regular season in ACC women's basketball history — a feat she would repeat two other times during her tenure at Duke (2003, 2007). During her final ten seasons at Duke, Goestenkors led the Blue Devils to NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen appearances every year, seven Elite Eight appearances, four Final Four appearances, and two appearances in the NCAA Championship game. During her tenure, her teams won five ACC tournament championships and eight ACC regular season titles. Goestenkors holds the ACC record for fewest games required to achieve 300 wins (387 games).

She's inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame as one of six members of the Class of 2015

NCAA Tournaments

Goestenkors' 1998-99 Duke team finished in second place, losing to the Carolyn Peck-coached Purdue Lady Boilermakers in the championship game. Along the way, Duke defeated the Tennessee Lady Vols in the Elite Eight, spoiling Chamique Holdsclaw's bid for a clean sweep of the National Championship (Holdsclaw had starred on Tennessee's National Championship teams as a freshman, sophomore and junior).

Duke's historic upset ended the Lady Vols' three-year run of national championships with a 69-63 victory over Tennessee in the final of the 1999 East Regionaland that sent a shock wave through the sport

Goestenkors' 2004-05 squad made the NCAA Elite Eight and posted a 31-5 record despite the loss of National Player of the Year Alana Beard to graduation.

In 2003-04 with Beard leading the way, the Blue Devils advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight, boasted a 30-4 record, won a fifth-straight ACC Tournament championship and fourth-straight ACC regular season title. and broke the University of Connecticut's 69-game home winning steak with a 68-67 comeback victory in Hartford, Connecticut.

Goestenkors led the Blue Devils to an ACC-record 35-2 ledger in 2002-03 and their second straight NCAA Final Four appearance. For the second consecutive year, Duke posted a 19-0 record against ACC opponents. The 2001-02 season produced similar success. She led the Blue Devils to a 31-4 record and an NCAA Final Four appearance. Duke became the first ACC school to produce an undefeated 19-0 record in the ACC by winning the regular season and Tournament titles. The Blue Devils in 2000-01 posted a 30-4 record, won ACC Tournament and ACC regular season championships and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The 2006-2007 season ended with a 32-2 record and notched her school's first ever undefeated regular season. She is often known as the "winningest coach not to have won a championship", being runner-up two times in fifteen years. Goestenkors also won the ACC Coach of the Year award in 2007 for the seventh time in fifteen years.

USA Basketball

Goestenkors served as the head coach of the USA representative to the 1997 William Jones Cup competition The event was held in Taipei, Taiwan during August 1997. The USA team won their first six games. Four of the six were decided by six points or fewer, including the semifinal game against Japan which went to overtime. In the gold medal game, the USA faced undefeated South Korea. The USA team played to a six point margin early in the second half, but could not extend the margin. South Korea came back, took the lead, and held on to win the championship and the gold medal 76-71.

Goestenkors served as an assistant coach to the National team in the 2002 World Championships, held during September in three cities in China, including Nanjing, China. The USA won the opening six preliminary rounds easily, with no contest closer than 30 points. That included the opening round game against Russia, who has played them close ant he 1998 Championship final. In the opening game, the USA won 89–55 behind 20 points form Lisa Leslie and 17 from Sheryl Swoopes. The USA wasn't seriously challenged in the quarterfinals, where they beat Spain by 39 points. The semifinal game against Australia was closer, but Leslie had a double-double with 24 points and 13 rebounds to help the USA team win by 15 points. In the championship game, much like the 1998 finals, the rematch was much closer. This time the USA team did not have to play form behind, and had a ten point lead late ant he game, but the Russians cut the lead to a single point with just over three minutes remaining. The game remained close, and was within three points with just over twelve seconds to go, but Swoopes was fouled and sank the free throws to give the USA a 79–74 win and the gold medal.

Goestenkors served as an assistant coach for the USA National team in 2006, a team in transition. Lisa Leslie, who had led the team in scoring in the 2004 Olympics, the 2002 World Championships, the 2000 Olympics, the 1998 World Championships, and the 1996 Olympics was no longer on the team. Sheryl Swoopes was available but hampered by injuries, and Dawn Staley moved on to coaching. Newcomers Sue Bird, Candace Parker and Diana Taurasi picked up the slack, but it was a team in transition. As an additional challenge, some members of the squad were unable to join the team for practices due to WNBA commitments. The team started out strong, winning each of the six preliminary games, including the game against Russia. In the quarterfinals, the USA team beat Spain 90–56. The semifinal was a rematch against Russia, but this time the Russian team prevailed, 75–68. The USA faced Brazil in the bronze medal game, and won easily 99–59.

Awards

• Associated Press National Coach of the Year (2007)
• ACC Coach of the Year (1996, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007)
• WBCA District Coach of the Year (1995, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004)
• USA Basketball National Coach of the Year (2006)
• WBCA National Coach of the Year (2003, 2007)
• Victor Award Coach of the Year (1999, 2003)
• Naismith National Coach of the Year (2003)
• GBallMag.com Coach of the Year (2002)
• Basketball Times Coach of the Year (2000)
• Carol Eckman Award (2006)
• US Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) Coach of the Year award (2007)

Head coaching record

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Duke (ACC) (1992–2007)
1992–93	Duke	12–15	3–13	9th
1993–94	Duke	16–11	7–9	5th
1994–95	Duke	22–9	10–6	4th	NCAA Second Round
1995–96	Duke	26–7	12–4	2nd	NCAA Second Round
1996–97	Duke	19–11	9–7	T–3rd	NCAA Second Round
1997–98	Duke	24–8	13–3	1st	NCAA Elite Eight
1998–99	Duke	29–7	15–1	1st	NCAA Runner-Up
1999–00	Duke	28–6	12–4	2nd	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2000–01	Duke	30–4	13–3	1st	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2001–02	Duke	31–4	16–0	1st	NCAA Final Four
2002–03	Duke	35–2	16–0	1st	NCAA Final Four
2003–04	Duke	30–4	15–1	1st	NCAA Elite Eight
2004–05	Duke	31–5	12–2	T–1st	NCAA Elite Eight
2005–06	Duke	31–4	12–2	T–2nd	NCAA Runner-Up
2006–07	Duke	32–2	14–0	1st	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
Duke:		396–99 (.800)	179–55 (.765)
Texas (Big 12) (2007–2012)
2007–08	Texas	22–13	7–9	T–7th	NCAA Second Round
2008–09	Texas	21–12	8-8	6th	NCAA First Round
2009–10	Texas	22–11	10-6	T-4th	NCAA First Round
2010–11	Texas	19–14	7-9	7th	NCAA First Round
2011–12	Texas	18–14	8-10	8th	NCAA First Round
Texas:		102–64 (.614)	40-42 (.488)
Total:		498–163 (.753)
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

Source:

Personal life

Goestenkors' ex-husband is Mark Simons, an assistant coach for the Auburn women's basketball team. Assistant coach at Michigan State, 2012 to present.

External links

• Texas Athletics — Women's Basketball
• The University of Texas at Austin

Indiana Fever roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs C 11 Achonwa, Natalie 6' 4" (1.93m) 183 lb (83kg) 11-22-1992 Notre Dame 1 F 24 Catchings, Tamika 6' 1" (1.85m) 167 lb (76kg) 07-21-1979 Tennessee 14 G/F 25 Coleman, Marissa 6' 1" (1.85m) 160 lb (73kg) 01-04-1987 Maryland 7 G 20 January, Briann 5' 8" (1.73m) 144 lb (65kg) 01-11-1987 Arizona State 7 G 42 Johnson, Shenise 5' 11" (1.8m) 172 lb (78kg) 12-09-1990 Miami (FL) 4 F 12 Kizer, Lynetta 6' 4" (1.93m) 230 lb (104kg) 04-04-1990 Maryland 4 F 2 Larkins, Erlana 6' 1" (1.85m) 205 lb (93kg) 04-02-1986 North Carolina 6 G 33 Lucas, Maggie 5' 10" (1.78m) 152 lb (69kg) 11-29-1991 Penn State 2 G 3 Mitchell, Tiffany 5' 9" (1.75m) 152 lb (69kg) 09-23-1984 South Carolina R G 30 Moseley, Brene 5' 7" (1.7m) 120 lb (54kg) 11-25-1993 Maryland R F 14 Peters, Devereaux 6' 2" (1.88m) 174 lb (79kg) 10-08-1989 Notre Dame 4 G 17 Wheeler, Erica 5' 7" (1.7m) 143 lb (65kg) 05-02-1991 Rutgers 1 East: ATL • CHI • CON • IND • NY • WAS | West: DAL • LA • MIN • PHO • SA • SEA	Head coach Stephanie White (Purdue) Assistant coaches Steven Key (Boston University) Gary Kloppenburg (UC San Diego) Athletic trainer Todd Champlin (Daemen) Strength and conditioning coach David Williams (Central Florida) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured WNBA roster page