DATE: Friday, May 16, 1997                  TAG: 9705160934

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   71 lines

LARRY SIGNS ON FOR THREE MORE YEARS AT ODU CONTRACT EXTENSION PUTS HER NEAR TOP OF THE PAY SCALE FOR WOMEN'S BASKETBALL COACHES.

Wendy Larry signed a three-year contract extension with Old Dominion on Thursday that makes her one of the nation's highest-paid women's basketball head coaches.

ODU will pay Larry a base salary of $120,000, which does not include undisclosed perks provided by the ODU Intercollegiate Foundation and revenue from summer camps and radio and television shows. In all, her compensation package is believed to be in excess of $150,000.

Larry's base salary is nearly twice the national average of $60,603, according to the NCAA.

The salary increase makes her ODU's highest-paid basketball coach, at least temporarily. Men's coach Jeff Capel had a base salary of $104,000 last season. ODU athletic director Jim Jarrett said Capel's salary for next season has not been determined.

Veteran Philadelphia Inquirer sports writer Mel Greenberg, who began the Associated Press women's basketball poll, says Larry's salary ``puts her in the top 10 to 15 percent of all women's coaches.'' Stanford's Tara VanDerveer, at $200,000, is the nation's highest-paid coach.

Larry's signing is the second round of good news for the Lady Monarchs in two weeks. On May 1, All-American point guard Ticha Penicheiro announced she would return rather than play professionally.

Thursday's announcement marked the end of protracted negotiations between Larry's attorney, former Duke basketball star Jack Marin, and Jarrett.

Larry's contract expired on March 29, when the Lady Monarchs fell to Tennessee in the national championship game. Larry was given a 10-day extension the next day, officials announced, in order to give both sides time to conclude a new contract.

It took 36 days beyond the extension to consummate the deal.

Asked if she was anxious about whether negotiations would be successful, Larry replied: ``I was beyond anxious.''

Negotiations bogged down in part because of logistics, Larry said. ``Any time you get two litigation staffs together, it's difficult to work out schedules,'' she said. But she said negotiations over terms of her contract, and improvements she asked for in the women's basketball program, were also major hurdles.

Larry wouldn't comment on what improvements she asked for, but said in previous interviews that salaries for assistant coaches and other budgetary concerns would be addressed during negotiations. She said she asked for improvements ``in order for this program to remain competitive nationally.

``There were a lot of different issues we dealt with . . . of mutual support for some committed, hard-working people and to the program itself,'' she said. ``I don't think you can ever get enough. I think we're pleased with what we got, but not satisfied.''

Jarrett pronounced himself ``very pleased'' with the deal, and said Larry was deserving of a $16,000 base salary increase over last season. Larry's team went 34-2 last season and appeared in the Final Four for the first time since 1985.

Larry was named coach of the year by The Sporting News and the Women's Basketball Writers of America. Larry, a 1977 ODU graduate, has a 223-88 record in 10 years at her alma mater.

``When you look at her record, her quality recruiting, the excellent academic records of her student-athletes and her worth in the marketplace, it justifies that kind of raise,'' Jarrett said.

``Wendy's a great coach, and a part of our family. I'm happy with the way she handled the situation. She had an opportunity to look for other jobs, and to publicly leverage during the negotiations. She didn't.''

Larry acknowledged she was contacted by other universities and some professional teams, but won't say whether she consented to an interview. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo KEYWORDS: BASKETBALL LADY MONARCHS

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