KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Tennessee women’s basketball coach Holly Warlick has received a three-year contract extension as well as a $25,000 raise.
Athletic director Phillip Fulmer announced Friday that Warlick’s contract now runs through the 2021-22 season. Warlick’s deal was set to expire at the end of the 2018-19 season.
Her annual pay increased from $665,000 to $690,000.
“Holly has dedicated the majority of her adult life to Lady Vols basketball, and there is no one better suited to lead what is one of the most unique and tradition-laden programs in the sport,” athletic director Phillip Fulmer said in a statement. “In her six years as head coach - during which women’s college basketball has experienced a tremendous surge in parity - very few programs have produced the level of success that Tennessee has maintained.”
Tennessee has gone 153-54 with three regional final appearances in Warlick’s six seasons, though the Lady Vols have lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament the last two years. Tennessee finished 25-8 last season after racing to a 15-0 start.
The Lady Vols haven’t reached a Final Four since their 2008 national championship.
Warlick, a Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, was an assistant on former Tennessee coach Pat Summitt’s staff for 27 seasons. She is a former Tennessee player whose No. 22 jersey hangs from the Thompson-Boling Arena rafters.
“I am excited about the future of Tennessee Lady Vol basketball and appreciate the support of Coach Fulmer, the university and our tremendous fan base,” Warlick said in a statement.
Under terms of the deal announced Friday, if Tennessee fires Warlick without cause any time before March 31, 2020, the school would owe her one-third of the money she would have earned up until the contract’s April 30, 2022, expiration date.
If Warlick is fired without cause from April 2020 through March 2021, the school would owe her $690,000.
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