LSU has hired former UCLA women’s basketball coach Nikki Caldwell to replace Van Chancellor, who stepped down two weeks ago, the University announced late Saturday.
Caldwell, who won a national championship as both a player and a coach at Tennessee, compiled a 72-26 record in her three years at UCLA and was named Pac-10 coach of the year in 2010 after a 25-9 season.
“Nikki is one of the best and brightest coaches in the country, and LSU fans will be proud of the way she will represent this program,” said vice chancellor and director of athletics Joe Alleva in a news release. “She has all the qualities to bring our program to national prominence.”
Caldwell began her coaching career as an assistant at Virginia in 2000 before returning to her alma mater in 2003 under legendary Tennessee coach Pat Summitt.
During her tenure at Tennessee, she helped the Lady Volunteers reach the Final Four five times, including picking up a pair of national titles, and has earned a reputation as one of the nation’s best recruiters.
Caldwell is set to make $900,000 a year, according to a Los Angeles Times report — triple what she earned at UCLA and $240,000 more than Chancellor earned.
 
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Contact Mark Clements at [email protected]