Mickie DeMoss spent last season guiding her Kentucky basketball team to heights the program had rarely seen. Her success was rewarded on Monday when she signed a new five-year contract extension with the university.

DeMoss, who led UK to a 22-9 mark in 2005-06, was given a $50,000 raise in annual base salary, bumping her to $350,000 a year. Add in performance bonuses and the fourth-year coach can earn upwards of $400,000 a season.

"I think it's a sign of the commitment UK is making to women's basketball," DeMoss said. "The future looks great and I'm excited that I'm going to be here a few more years.

"It means so much to know that there is a commitment there financially and that they care about having a women's basketball program. It solidifies the future. I felt like from the beginning that Mitch was on board with the program. He knew the type of program I came from at Tennessee and what my expectations were. He's been about everything he's promised and fortunately we've been able to show him some results."

It hasn't taken long for DeMoss to change the face of women's basketball at UK. In just her third year after taking over the downtrodden program DeMoss led UK to those 22 victories, the most in 16 years. The nine Southeastern Conference wins represented a school record and the fourth place finish was the best in 23 years. The season was capped with the Cats' first NCAA Tournament appearance in seven seasons.

Thanks to the unforeseen success on the court this year DeMoss stock soared in the coaching community, causing her name to surface in several coaching searches. DeMoss said only the opening at Texas Tech had any validity to the rumors but even that was indirect and wasn't serious. Barnhart approached her after the season and began negotiations on a new deal.

"When the season was over we said we needed to sit down and talk about the future and come up with some things in writing and that's what we did," DeMoss said. "I didn't know what to expect, but I knew we had a really good year and Mitch has been good about rewarding the successes we've had. This year was a statement year for women's basketball and he really stepped to the plate. I was very pleased with what he had to offer."

Barnhart has been an unabashed fan of the program since he arrived at UK and later hired DeMoss away from her assistant coach positions at national power Tennessee. To him it was a no-brainer that UK did everything it could to compensate DeMoss appropriately.

"Coach DeMoss is very deserving of this new contract as our women's basketball program is now one of the marquee sports in women's athletics," Barnhart said. "The program has made significant progress while competing in a very difficult league. Coach DeMoss' recruiting, organization and vision for the program give me great confidence in the direction it is going."

Even with the success and the return of every major player from last season's team, DeMoss expects more from her team in the future.

"This past year was a signature year and for the administration to step up and want to revise my contract, it's a good sign for the future for me and the program," DeMoss said. "Being here three years I think we've made a stamp on the program already, but we know the future is in our hands. We had a great year this past year but my goal is to have that program year-in and year-out. We want to be recognized as one of the top programs in the country.

"I'm not looking to go anywhere. I think the University of Kentucky has so much to offer for women's basketball and we're working really hard to build this program. I like to know where I'm going to be. I'm not one that likes to move around a lot so it makes me comfortable to know I have a future here."