Brady Sallee said in late March he wanted to build a women’s basketball program.

Sallee, the Eastern women’s basketball head coach, will get an opportunity to that for the next three years.

Sallee’s contract was extended through the 2011 season for the second time in his four years at Eastern by a vote of confidence at the Board of Trustees on Monday.

His contract was extended to the end of the 2009 season by a vote of confidence by the Board of Trustees in April 2006.

“The security is a big, big effort,” Sallee said. “It puts a little bit of credibility about what I’m selling. It’s going to enable me to go out into the living rooms of recruits.”

The women’s basketball team finished with the 2008 season a winning record at 19-13 record and 15-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Panthers finished in a three-way tie for second place in the OVC and made it all the way to the OVC Tournament championship game before losing to Murray State.

Sallee has gone 49-68 in four seasons. He is the first coach to post double-digit wins in four consecutive seasons since former head coach John Klein did it from 1995-1998.

Eastern interim athletic director Ken Baker said he is pleased with the contract extension.

“We’ve been trying to get the basketball programs going,” Baker said. “We’re not interested in quick fixes. We’re excited about it.”

The contract for Eastern’s new athletic director Barbara Burke was also approved at the BOT meeting.

Burke’s contract was approved for $140,000 for three years. Burke was announced as the new Eastern athletic director on March 21.

“It’s wonderful,” Burke said.

Burke also said Sallee’s contract extension was well deserved, and she said it will make her job easier because Sallee’s position is solidified at the start of her career at Eastern.

If Salle continues coaching through his contract extension, he will be the longest Eastern head women’s basketball coach since Barb Hilke coached for 14 years from 1979-1983.

Four of the 11 OVC coaches have coached the same amount of years or more in the conference than Sallee.

Only Eastern Kentucky head women’s basketball coach Larry Joe Inman (20 years), and Samford head women’s basketball coach Mike Morris (six years) have been coaching in the league longer than Sallee.

Tennessee State head coach Tracee Wells and Tennessee-Martin head coach Tara Tansil have been coaching in the league for four years.

“It’s a good day in the Sallee household,” Sallee said. “It’s everything I could have asked for. The vote of confidence, it’s priceless. I’m just ready to start working.”

Eastern sophomore forward Maggie Kloak said the team is excited to have Sallee around longer.

“We don’t have anything to worry about,” Kloak said. “He’s a great coach. He’s been one of the reasons why we’ve been successful.”

Kloak was somewhat worried because she said mid-major coaches could leave at any time to pursue other coaching jobs.

“It’s a big deal,” Kloak said. “He’s the kind of coach that can coach any team.”

But Kloak is looking forward to the next step.

“He has a lot of confidence in us,” she said. “He hasn’t finished here.”

Eastern returns all five starters next season, and all players except for senior guard Brittney Coleman (graduating) and sophomore guard Jessica Huffman (transferring).

Sallee’s first recruiting class, this year’s juniors, have made two OVC Tournaments in three years.

Kevin Murphy can be reached at 581-7944 or at kjmurphy@eiu.edu.