Details of Kansas University women’s basketball coach Bonnie Henrickson’s new contract were made public on Thursday, several weeks after KU officials confirmed a new deal was agreed to.

And Henrickson, who just completed her third year at KU, is getting a whopper of a raise.

Kansas Athletics, Inc., will pay Henrickson a base salary of $220,000 per year, plus additional payments that will bring her total compensation to $635,000 a year.

The additional payment will come with services such as media appearences and other public-relations and promotional functions.

The $635,000 is quite a bit more than her first contract, which totaled $380,000 and included a base salary of $130,000. But the reasoning is twofold, according to athletic director Lew Perkins

“First off, we’re trying to send a message that women’s basketball is important to us at Kansas,” Perkins said Thursday. “Secondly, Bonnie has done a great job here, and we want to show our support to her.”

Perkins researched the contracts for the rest of the coaches in the Big 12 before negotiating the deal. He said Henrickson will be in the top half of the league in terms of compensation – which not only benefits Henrickson, but gets the word out on KU’s commitment toward women’s hoops.

In addition to the annual income, Henrickson once again has a retention agreement that would pay her an additional $150,000 per year if she remains as KU’s coach through March 31, 2011.

Henrickson is 40-49 in her three years at Kansas, including an 11-20 mark this past season with one of the youngest teams in the Big 12. Still, the Jayhawks peaked late, winning five of their last seven regular-season games and beating NCAA Tournament team Oklahoma State in the Big 12 tournament.