Courtesy Vermont Athletic Communications
BURLINGTON, Vt. ? University of Vermont Director of Athletics Dr. Robert Corran announced today that women’s basketball coach Sharon Dawley has agreed to a new four-year contract that runs through the 2010-11 season. The new contract will take effect on July 1 and Dawley’s base salary for the 2007-08 season will be $105,000.
"Sharon has done a wonderful job in building a team, coaching staff, and program of which we can all be very proud,” said Corran. “Last year's efforts in re-shaping the program not only laid a solid foundation for the future but also brought immediate success, including one of the biggest wins in the program's history. We are excited for the future, with Sharon as our head coach."
“I am appreciative of the commitment that Dr. Corran and UVM has made,” said Dawley. “I am very excited about the future of UVM under the tremendous leadership of President Fogel. Vermont is a special place and I enjoy being a part of the UVM community. I look forward to working with our entire staff as well as our outstanding student-athletes as we continue to strive for excellence.”
This past season Dawley led Vermont to a 19-12 record and a third place finish in the America East Conference. She guided the Catamounts to the most wins in her tenure and a 13-3 start, the best since the 1992-93 season. The year was also highlighted by Vermont’s first-ever win over a ranked opponent when the Catamounts upset #22 Boston College in the championship game of the URI Invitational.
After being picked to finish eighth in the 2006-07 America East Preseason Coaches Poll, Dawley led Vermont to a third place finish, and the Catamounts advanced to the semifinals of the America East Women’s Basketball Championship.
Dawley owns a career record of 193-121 in 13 years as a head coach at the collegiate level. She is 56-58 in four seasons at Vermont. During her stint on the UVM sidelines 18 of the 22 players that have taken the floor have earned either academic and/or athletic accolades from America East.
The Catamounts were named one of the most improved teams in the country at the Division I level this season. Vermont returns 12 letterwinners for the 2007-08 season, including America East Rookie of the Year Courtnay Pilypaitis (Orleans, Ontario) and America East All-Defensive Team selection May Kotsopoulos (Waterloo, Ontario). The Catamounts will also return 84.6% of its scoring, 90.8% of its rebounding, 71.7% of its assists and 82.2% of the minutes played from this season in 2007-08.