Lawyer: Valvano Will Get Additional $375,000

Jim Valvano cleaned his office Sunday, marking the end of his coaching tenure with North Carolina State and paving the way for the school to find a successor for the embattled basketball program.

Supporters and officials echoed the optimism Valvano displayed Saturday when he agreed to leave and not sue the school in exchange for $238,000. Valvano also stands to be paid $375,000 by the university’s booster club, one of his attorneys said.

In regard to the $375,000, Charles Bryant, executive director of the booster organization, said the Wolfpack Club would live up to its contractual obligation to pay Valvano, but he would not specify the amount the group owed the coach.

“It’s just the passing of a baton,” Bryant said Sunday.

The school faces the task of hiring a new coach, but must first choose an athletic director--a position Valvano gave up in August after the program came under fire.

“This is a very critical and difficult time for us,” said William Burns Jr., co-vice chairman of the N.C. State Board of Trustees. “But I think the university is strong enough. I don’t see any problem getting good people to fill these positions.”

“I would hope that the new coach would be a man of high principle, one who believes in working with young men and encouraging their development, and at the same time winning some games.”

Mentioned as a possible successor was East Tennessee Coach Les Robinson, a former N.C. State basketball player.

Valvano had been under pressure to resign since reports in February that former players accepted cash and shaved points. He never was implicated in the allegations. Former player Charles Shackleford admitted accepting $60,000 while playing for the Wolfpack, but denied an ABC-TV report that he shaved points.

The program is under a two-year probation imposed in December by the NCAA, which found that players sold sneakers and complimentary tickets.

Valvano was not available for comment Sunday, said Woody Webb, a Raleigh attorney who represented the coach in negotiations with the university.

Webb said Valvano went to his office at 7 a.m. to remove his belongings. There was no sign of Valvano at his office Sunday afternoon.