DATE: Monday, March 31, 1997                TAG: 9703310056

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A10  EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CINCINNATI                        LENGTH:   64 lines

END OF SEASON MEANS END OF WENDY LARRY'S CONTRACT

Old Dominion women's basketball coach Wendy Larry became a free agent Sunday night when the horn sounded ending the NCAA championship game.

Larry, whose Lady Monarchs lost to Tennessee 68-59 in the final, technically is no longer ODU's coach. Her four-year contract, with an estimated base salary of $90,000-$100,000, expired at the end of the season, ODU officials say.

ODU officials have been negotiating a contract extension for months, and ODU president James V. Koch said Larry has a written, multi-year offer from the school in hand.

``We would love for her to return, obviously,'' Koch said.

``The kind of offer we've put in front of her is really very attractive. It includes the kind of non-salaried incentives (from the ODU Intercollegiate Foundation, the school's fund-raising organization) that ordinarily don't make the newspaper.''

ODU officials express confidence that Larry, an ODU alumna will return. Nancy Lieberman-Cline, a former ODU All-American who was a teammate of Larry's and is a sideline commentator for ESPN, said: ``Wendy will be back. You can count on it.''

But Koch acknowledges ODU will have formidable competition. Several Ohio newspapers report Larry is among the top candidates being eyed by Ohio State. And it has been rumored that Larry and ODU All-American Ticha Penicheiro both will join the infant Women's National Basketball Association.

ODU officials acknowledge privately they probably can't outbid either Ohio State or the WNBA. Larry, 42, has declined comment on her contract negotiations. Last May, she interviewed for the University of Washington job.

Larry, a New Jersey native, was an assistant on ODU's 1980 and 1985 national championship teams. She became a head coach in 1978, compiling a 19-4 record at Virginia Wesleyan, before returning to ODU as an assistant for six seasons.

She was head coach at Arizona for two seasons before returning to ODU in 1987 to replace Marianne Stanley as head coach. Larry's overall record is 272-119, including a 123-88 mark at ODU. She has taken ODU to the NCAA tournament in 10 of her 11 seasons in Norfolk.

ODU athletic director Jim Jarrett is banking on Larry's loyalty.

``When Marianne left, we were able to convince Wendy to come back from Arizona,'' Jarrett said. ``That in itself says a lot. She left Arizona because she loves Old Dominion and because she knows that we have a support system for our women's basketball program that's as good as any.

``That's not saying we've got the most money. But we've got a lot of very, very strong values as it relates to gender equity. Coaches like to work in an environment like that.

``I think she has very much loyalty to Old Dominion. Having said that, she's also got to look at her career and make some decisions about what she wants to do. But we've got a very attractive package on the table.''

Jarrett said the package for whoever coaches the Lady Monarchs will get sweeter in coming years. ODU will break ground in the summer of 1998 on a convocation center expected to seat about 10,000. It will replace the 4,800-seat ODU field house by the 2000-2001 season, Jarrett said.

Jarrett said he and Larry will meet later this week. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

HUY NGUYEN/The Virginian-Pilot

Old Dominion University women's basketball coach Wendy Larry's

four-year contract expired Sunday. ODU has offered Larry a contract,

but the coach reportedly has other suitors.

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