ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, April 15, 1997 TAG: 9704150077
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING THE ROANOKE TIMES
Bonnie Henrickson is coming back as the Hokies' fourth women's basketball coach.
Bonnie Henrickson, a former Virginia Tech assistant coach, will be named the Hokies' new women's basketball coach today, sources said Monday.
The announcement will be made official by Hokies athletic director Dave Braine in a news conference scheduled for 1:30 p.m. in the Bowman Room of Jamerson Athletic Center.
Henrickson, 34, replaces Carol Alfano, who was fired March 12. Henrickson, who has spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach at Iowa, was a Hokies assistant under Alfano from 1988-95.
It was during the latter part of that tenure that Tech enjoyed its greatest success. The Hokies went 66-23 from 1992-95, winning a Metro Conference tournament title, a Metro regular-season championship and earning back-to-back trips to the NCAA Tournament.
Henrickson helped in recruiting virtually every player, including star center Jenny Root, who was responsible for Tech's three-year run of success. Since Henrickson left after the 1994-95 season, Tech has struggled to 11-17 and 10-21 records the past two seasons in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
It will be the first head coaching job for Henrickson, a native of Willmar, Minn.
Henrickson becomes the fourth coach since women's basketball became a varsity sport at Tech in 1975-76. John Wetzel and Carolyn Owen each led the program for one season before Alfano began her 19-year run in 1978.
Henrickson, whose primary competition for the Tech post was longtime Virginia assistant Shawn Campbell, couldn't be reached for comment Monday.
LENGTH: Short : 41 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Henricksonby CNB