Larranaga turns down Providence

He's staying put at George Mason

Jim Larranaga, who took George Mason to the Final Four two years ago, signed a three-year extension to remain coach of the Patriots yesterday, turning down an offer to move to his alma mater, Providence College.

The deal is on top of an extension Larranaga signed shortly after GMU's Final Four appearance. He is now under contract to the school through the 2014-15 season.

The new extension came after a strong courtship from Providence, which is looking for a replacement for Tim Welsh. Welsh was fired last month after three losing seasons in the last four years.

"We offered him a very substantial package but he was too comfortable in his current situation and opted to stay at George Mason," Providence athletic director Bob Driscoll said. "As a result, I will continue to have ongoing discussions with the other finalists in this search."

The 58-year-old Larranaga has led George Mason to the NCAA Tournament four times (1999, 2001, 2006, 2008) and the NIT twice (2001-02) in his 11 seasons at the school.

His 207-131 record makes him the school's all-time winningest coach. This year George Mason lost to Notre Dame in the first round of the NCAAs.

"I've said before that I hope to retire here at George Mason and this contract extension allows me to do just that," Larranaga said in a statement.

Larranaga graduated from Providence in 1971 and was the Friars' leading scorer in his sophomore and junior seasons.

Welsh was fired after 10 seasons at Providence. The Friars went 15-16 this season and lost in the first round of the Big East tournament.

Extension for Sadler

Nebraska basketball coach Doc Sadler received a two-year contract extension after leading the Cornhuskers in their first 20-win season in nine years.

Sadler's contract will run through the 2013-14 season, and his base pay will increase from $700,000 to $800,000 each of the next six years.

Sadler's name was mentioned when coaching vacancies came up at Texas A&M and Arkansas last year, and his name was bandied again after Tuesday's resignation of Oklahoma State's Sean Sutton. Sadler said he was not interested in the OSU job.

Women's Wooden team

Tennessee star Candace Parker and Connecticut freshman Maya Moore are among the five finalists for the women's John R. Wooden Award, given to college basketball's top player.

Oklahoma's Courtney Paris, LSU's Sylvia Fowles and Stanford's Candice Wiggins are the other finalists. The men's and women's winners will be announced April 11 in Los Angeles. Tennessee's Pat Summitt will receive the Legends of Coaching award.

Parker won the award last year when she led the Lady Vols to the national championship. She led the SEC in scoring with 21.1 points a game and helped Tennessee reach the Final Four again despite a dislocated shoulder.

Moore is the first freshman selected to the Wooden All-American team since Paris in 2006. She led UConn to the Final Four, averaging 18.1 points.

Paris averaged 18.6 points and led the nation in rebounding with 15 per game.

Wiggins scored 41 points against Maryland in the NCAA tournament to help Stanford reach the Final Four.

UConn savors win

Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma gave his team a little time to celebrate making the Final Four.

He even let the top-seeded Huskies cut down the nets following Tuesday's 66-56 win over No. 2 seed Rutgers in the Greensboro Regional championship.

"I thought for this particular group, for this particular time and how much of a struggle it's been for this group to get there. I wanted them to experience last night's win for as long as possible," Auriemma said. "Starting today, it's all over with," he said.

That's because the Huskies (36-1) have to prepare for Stanford (34-3), which rolls into Tampa with Wiggins, one of the hottest players in the postseason.

Wiggins had 41 points in a 98-87 win over Maryland Monday in the Spokane Regional final. The All-America guard became the first player in tournament history with two games of 40 points or more, following her career-best 44-point performance against UTEP in the second round last week.

The No. 2-seeded Cardinal get their second look at UConn this season. The Huskies beat Stanford, 66-54, Nov. 22 in a Virgin Islands tournament. At the time, UConn was cruising to double-digit wins over Old Dominion, Duke, and Virginia. That was before two season-ending injuries to starters Kalana Greene, the Huskies top defender, and 3-point specialist Mel Thomas.

Vols' Parker will be ready

With LSU up next and Tennessee star Parker stinging from a shoulder injury, the Lady Volunteers appear to have a lot of hard work to do. Summitt has other plans before the national semifinals Sunday.

"I think rest is what we need," said Summitt, who will be making her 18th appearance in the Final Four. "We need our legs, and we need to be mentally sharp as well. Less is more in this situation."

Summitt said she feels really good about Parker's chances of playing in Tennessee's third game this season against the Lady Tigers, who won the regular-season meeting between the teams. Tennessee (34-2) beat LSU (31-5) for the Southeastern Conference tournament championship.

Still, Summitt is taking few chances of further injuring her two-time All-American or wearing out any of her other players before then. The Lady Vols had yesterday off and planned only a light practice for today before traveling to Tampa.