July 25, 2008

CHAPEL HILL - The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Board of Trustees approved a contract extension for women's basketball coach Sylvia Hatchell that signs the Hall of Fame coach through the year 2015.

Hatchell recently completed her 22nd season as head coach of the Tar Heels and her 33rd as a collegiate head coach. She has led North Carolina to four consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference championships, two Final Four appearances in the last four years and trips to at least the NCAA regional finals from 2005-08. She led the Tar Heels to the NCAA championship in 1994.

Her new contract includes terms for a salary that starts at $310,000 per year and averages nearly $330,000 over the next seven years; an expense account of $30,000 for the first three years and $40,000 for the next four years; and supplemental income averaging more than $65,000 per year.

"Sylvia is one of the premier coaches in the country and we are thrilled that she continues to passionately lead our program toward even greater heights," says Director of Athletics Dick Baddour. "She's a Hall of Famer in the prime of her career. Her teams are successful at the highest level and her student-athletes fare well academically and in the community. We are proud of what she has accomplished and the level to which she has helped develop the game and look forward to many more years of success."

We look forward to watching her lead the Tar Heels for many more years of highly successful women's basketball."

Hatchell, a member of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, has an overall record of 784-275 and a 512-195 mark at North Carolina. A two-time national coach of the year, she won ACC Coach of the Year honors in 2008 after leading the Tar Heels to a 33-3 record and ACC regular-season and Tournament championships.

"It is an honor to coach at Carolina," says Hatchell. "Over the last several years, our program has continued to grow and prosper. We have the best winning percentage in the nation over the last four seasons and are the only school in America to receive a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament each of those years. Year in and year out the young women who are a part of this program are among the best student-athletes in the country both on and off the court.

"Carolina is truly one of the elite programs in the NCAA and I appreciate the support we are continuing to receive from Dick Baddour, our administration and the University that allows us to compete at that level. I look forward to the future because we have the best staff, fans and administration in America, and in a couple of years, with the renovation of Carmichael Auditorium, we will have the best state-of-the-art women's basketball facility in the nation. I look forward to winning many more championships at Carolina."

The extension serves as an amendment to a contract Hatchell initially signed in 2002 and was amended in 2006.