UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University Athletic Department will host former NCAA Division I women's basketball coach Joanne P. McCallie on Monday, Jan. 22, 2024. Coach P will talk with both the SVSU Athletics staff and student-athletes about the importance of mental health in college athletics.

This talk is the first part of two speakers scheduled to provide life skills training for Cardinal student-athletes.

McCallie is one of the country's most highly decorated female basketball coaches. She led the University of Maine, Michigan State University, and Duke University women's teams to a combined 646 victories and 21 NCAA Tournament appearances in 28 years. During her career, she won National Coach of the Year honors after leading MSU to the NCAA Final Four in 2004-05 to go along with 10 conference regular-season championships and eight conference tournament titles at her three stops. Coach P is the only coach in history to win Coach of the Year in four different conferences, a feat she achieved eight times during her time on the sidelines. She led the Spartans and Blue Devils to 13 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances from 2003-15. Her teams finished in The Associated Press Top 25 14 times, including nine inside the Top 10. McCallie posted a career-winning percentage of .717, including four 30-win seasons.

Coach P has written two best-selling books, "Secret Warrior: A Coach and Fighter, On and Off the Court" and "Choice and Not Chance: Rules for Building a Fierce Competitor." Each book reflects her life experiences, triumphs, and professional challenges as a head coach. She is set to release a fiction novel, focusing on brain health in 2024.

Coach P is an active advocate for brain health and will launch her CoachP4Life Foundation for Brain Health in mid-2024.

Saginaw Valley State University is the first athletic department in the state of Michigan to invite Coach P to campus to talk with coaches and student-athletes.