NORFOLK -- Lady Monarch head women's basketball coach Wendy Larry has signed a new five-year contract with Old Dominion University as announced today by athletic director Jim Jarrett. The contract guarantees a base salary of $140,000 and additional income from radio and television packages, summer camps, and an annuity.
"I am excited and pleased that Wendy Larry will continue to lead our women's basketball program through the year 2005. I appreciate her loyalty to Old Dominion University and to the Hampton Roads community," says Jarrett. "All women's basketball fans can look forward to continued success at the conference and national levels and to an exciting future for Lady Monarch basketball."
Larry is in her 13th season as head coach at Old Dominion, and just seven wins away from winning her 300th game at her alma mater with a 293-98 record. Overall, Larry has compiled a 342-129 record, which includes head coaching stints at Virginia Wesleyan in 1978-79 and the University of Arizona from 1985-1987. She has been named CAA Coach of the Year five times, including last season. In 1997, she was named the National Coach of the Year by The Sporting News and Rawlings, as Old Dominion advanced to the NCAA national championship game against Tennessee. The Lady Monarchs have captured eight consecutive CAA crowns.
"I am looking forward to the challenge of taking our women's basketball program from the fieldhouse into the Constant Convocation Center. We must continue to expand the great relationship that our program has created with the Hampton Roads area by taking our fan base and financial support to the next level," says Larry. "The new, state-of-the-art facility will not only allow us to continue to recruit the top student-athletes in the nation, but also help us secure their commitment to play for Old Dominion University."
Old Dominion University is celebrating its 25th anniversary of offering scholarships to women student-athletes, and Larry was among the first to receive a grant-in-aid in basketball. She competed for three seasons for the Lady Monarchs, earning her degree in 1977. She joined Marianne Stanley's staff in 1979 as a graduate assistant coach and was promoted to a full-time assistant in 1981. During her tenure as an assistant, the Lady Monarchs won two AIAW national titles in 1979 and 1980 and an NCAA crown in 1985. She was named the head coach at Arizona in 1985 and earned PacWest Coach of the Year honors in 1986, leading that team to a 19-9 record. She was named head coach at Old Dominion in 1987, replacing Stanley.