Thursday, April 7, 2011

ODU turns up the heat on Wendy Larry

It's been a tough offseason for veteran coaches. A few weeks ago, Debbie Ryan resigned at Virginia after 34 seasons, and while she won't comment on the backstory behind her decision, indications are it wasn't all her idea. A few days later, Van Chancellor, a Naismith and Women's Basketball Hall of Famer, stepped down at LSU, apparently under similar circumstances.

Now, the Virginian-Pilot reports that Old Dominion is taking a wait-and-see posture regarding an extension for Wendy Larry, who has just one year remaining on her deal.

“I told her she had done nothing in the past three years that I could take to the board to get an extension,” athletic director Wood Selig said this afternoon. “It would have been D.O.A. (dead on arrival).”

Under Larry, the Lady Monarchs won 17 straight CAA titles, advanced to the 1997 NCAA title game and as recently as 2007-08 were in the Sweet 16. But ODU has failed to reach the NCAAs in any of the three seasons since. The Lady Monarchs concluded the 2010-11 campaign with a WNIT first-round loss to Loyola (Md.) in front of 450 fans at the Constant Center.

The timing isn't ideal for an ODU resurgence, either. The Lady Monarchs lose four senior starters off its 2010-11 edition and will need to rely on a promising but obviously untested five-player freshman class. Given Larry's track record, it would be foolish to think she can't make it work. But in the increasingly what-have-you-done-for-me-lately world of women's basketball coaching, it looks like she's going to have to. 

3 comments:

  1. Does the man realize the whole econony is down - not just the women's basketball income @ ODU??? A lot of Lady Monarch fans are older on fixed incomes w/o even a Social Security cost of living raise in past few years. Give me a break, ODU is gotten to be ALL about money!

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  2. Absolutely ridiculous. Wendy deserves to leave on her own terms. I believe Wood Selig has made an absolutely terrible and reactionary decision. His time at ODU may not be very long if this is how he chooses to handle situations.

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  3. Wendy has been THE BEST! She truly loves this school and all the people in the community. She has done an outstanding job and needs to be recognized for such. It is not easy getting top student atletes with the competition out there! If she were getting all Blue chippers and not producing then I can understand!!! GIVE ME A BREAK...WOOD

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