University of North Carolina Athletics
Hatchell Signs Six-Year Contract
May 25, 2006 | Women's Basketball
May 25, 2006
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - University of North Carolina women's basketball coach Sylvia Hatchell, the 2006 Associated Press National Coach of the Year, has agreed to a new six-year contract that runs through the 2010-11 basketball season.
During the 2005-06 season, Hatchell led the Tar Heels to a second-consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference championship, a No. 1 final ranking and the Final Four. She has a record of 717-268 in 31 seasons as a collegiate head coach, including a 445-188 mark in 20 years at UNC.
Inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004, she ranks fourth in career wins among active coaches. In addition to the A.P. honor in 2006, she received the Naismith Award and was named National Coach of the Year by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association, the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and Basketball Times.
Carolina has won an NCAA championship (1994) and six ACC titles during Hatchell's tenure, which began in 1986.
Hatchell's previous contract was for a term of six years beginning on July 1, 2002, but athletic director Dick Baddour began conversations with her last fall about a new contract. "Sylvia continues to do an outstanding job in directing a basketball program that is among the best in the nation and has the full support of our University," Baddour said. "We talked about re-doing her contract prior to the season, but agreed to wait until after the year was completed to finalize the terms. She had an exciting team that performed so well all season. Sylvia has the energy and commitment to lead our program to many more successful seasons."
Hatchell's new contract is retroactive to July 1, 2005, and runs through June 30, 2011. Her base salary is $240,000 ($250,000 beginning on July 1, 2006, and $260,000 beginning on July 1, 2007). The contract also calls for an expense allowance of $30,000 per year and bonus clauses of 1/12 her annual salary should the team's student-athletes graduate equal to the rate of the general student body and for making the NCAA Tournament first round and regional final.
"I've loved the 20 years I've spent here and I take great pride in the success of the UNC women's basketball program," Hatchell said. "Much of what we've accomplished has been on the court - we're thrilled to have won the ACC the last two years and to have established ourselves as one of the nation's top programs. But I'm also proud of what the members of our team have done off the court. They've worked hard on their academics and earned their degrees while representing the University in a first-class way. I look forward to continuing the tradition we've put in place while always striving to improve, and I appreciate the support that our program receives from our administration and the University."
