The Lady Vols missed a chance at a 17th NCAA Final Four appearance last season when they lost to the University of North Carolina in the regional finals. They had not missed the Final Four since 2001.
Two highlights of the past season included Summitt reaching her 900th win in January and Candace Parker becoming the first woman to dunk in an NCAA tournament game and twice in one contest. She had two dunks against Army in the first round.
Summitt is the second-highest paid coach at Tennessee behind head football coach Phillip Fulmer, who makes $2.05 million annually. Men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl got a raise earlier this year to $1.1 million from $800,000.
Summitt said more universities were paying more attention to compensation packages for men’s and women’s coaches.
“In women’s basketball, just the fact that we’re starting to generate more interest and revenue and television, you get the exposure for the university. All of those things are a plus in terms of potential compensation,” she said. “That’s where I see our game improving and growing.”
— Associated Press
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