After nearly a decade of mediocrity, Old Dominion is making noise under Nikki McCray, but few are hearing it. Kids Day games aside, the Constant Center pulls in a few reliable regulars but lacks the electricity that surrounded the program for decades.

The Fieldhouse was raw noise, a unique environment with fans on top of players in a cozy gym lacking amenities but not charm. Who can forget the decibel level for ODU’s marquee victories over top-ranked Stanford in 1997 followed by a defeat of Tennessee a month later? The Constant Center reached fever pitch, too, — there was the night ODU beat a Penn State team when Kelly Mazzante scored 40 for the Lions,  the victory over Rutgers the same season the Scarlet Knights reached the national championship. Heck, JMU coming to town meant a big night in Norfolk.

McCray has become a tireless advocate for her team that is among the most improved in the nation in an attempt to connect Old Dominion “old” with the new Dominion that calls itself Monarchs.

Here’s what needs to be the next step in that process.

Return Wendy to the fold. Bring her into the building and allow the fans to celebrate what she meant to this program. Make #WendyLarryDay an event at the Ted on a game day. Because what went down in 2011 between Wendy and athletic director Wood Selig, who did not offer her an extension with one year remaining on her contract back then, remains an open wound.

Wendy parted ways with her alma mater, where she won more than 600 games and an unthinkable, remarkable 17 consecutive Colonial Athletic Association tournament championships, in the ugliest of divorces that left many longtime supporters of the program, several players included, uneasy about embracing what came after. Some believed that it was Larry’s time to go after a 20-11 season and a second consecutive year that ODU did not earn an NCAA Tournament bid. Recruiting had suffered; ODU’s APR was among the lowest in the nation.

But even those who believed Wendy had lost her fastball detested the way she was dismissed. That resulted in a rift still evident today despite this coach and these players having no connection to those events.

In carving out the Rushmore of Lady Monarch basketball, three spots are obvious, and they’re all from the same time frame: Marianne Stanley, Nancy Lieberman, Anne Donovan. Marianne’s been back; Nancy and Anne have their numbers retired.

The fourth spot belongs to Wendy, the alumna, the player, the assistant on a national championship team and most importantly, the coach who, for 25 years kept this program nationally relevant in a Power 5 era.

No denying that ODU struggled to make inroads in the national tournament during part of Wendy’s tenure, but getting there was an annual occurrence. Her teams did not lose in the CAA Tournament from 1992 until 2009, and, of course, put together a marvelous hurrah by taking down Virginia in 2008 to reach the Sweet 16.

Wendy’s connections with the top coaches in the game allowed ODU to consistently host the best teams in the country during a nonconference slate that was nothing short of brutal. Tennessee was an annual home-and home series taken for granted under Larry.

Three years ago, a bunch of ODU legends congregated at the Constant Center in an upper level suite to commemorate ODU’s 1,000th program victory. The game played out below; few watched as they caught up on old memories. The Old and the New Dominion couldn’t find a common ground. Allison Greene, an assistant to Larry during the glory years of the ’90s, talked a lot about numbers that afternoon, asking everyone, “What’s your number? How many of those 1,000 victories did you play a role in?”

Wendy, absent from the festivities, trumped everyone. Her number as a player, assistant and coach — 793. That’s 793 of the 1,000 victories.

We could start listing the accolades here, and there have been plenty for Wendy — recognized nationally for the 1997 season and seven times in the CAA. But a conversation from years ago seems more appropriate. Wendy could have gone other places multiple times. Asked why she stayed at ODU during a quiet chat, she didn’t hesitate. “Because this is my school. There’s only one Old Dominion.”

It wasn’t a job. It was a way of life rooted in her for 35 years.

Wendy’s players understand that, and so does anyone who supported the program during her reign.

From Mery Andrade, now an assistant to Cindy Fisher at San Diego: “I definitely think Old Dominion should honor Coach Larry because she has done so much for the women’s basketball program on and off the court. She’s a legend everywhere I go, even though I graduated 20 years ago. People still remember our team, our program, and especially Coach Larry. To me, she was my family away from home for four years. She always took good care of us. Even though now that all of us are in different parts of the world doing different things, talking about Coach Larry brings us all together. If Old Dominion women’s basketball is what it is today, it’s because of Wendy Larry. She’s the perfect icon to represent our school.”

From Jessica Canady, now with Wells Fargo in Richmond and a player from 2006-10, “I think that would be amazing to honor Wendy. I mean, Wendy’s been here forever. Honestly, she’s the legacy of Old Dominion women’s basketball. I mean, we’ve had Anne Donovan, of course, and other great players, Nancy Lieberman, Ticha Penicheiro, but Wendy’s been here the whole time to help build this program to where’s it’s been. I was fortunate enough to play all four years. I got two championships with her, and I know other people that can say they got four. . . . But I think it would be a great thing to bring her back, and it’s something that would give everyone a good feeling because, like I said, she’s the rock of Old Dominion women’s basketball.”

From Jazz Walters, who played alongside Canady, “I think bringing Wendy Larry back to the Constant Center would be monumental for the women’s program. As a former player of hers, she opened the doors and created endless opportunities for a lot of women’s basketball players.”

Coaching is big business these days, far more lucrative and impersonal then when Jim Jarrett hired Wendy away from Arizona back in 1987. She’s from New Jersey, but this was home. This is home. She’s taken her place in ODU’s Hall of Fame, where reams of former players and assistants turned out in her honor. But the fans, the people she connected for more than half of her life, never got to say thanks or goodbye or good luck.

Wendy never got her day.

The ball is in your court, Old Dominion, and trust us: We have it on good authority that Wendy would embrace #WendyLarryDay. Now it’s time for ODU to embrace Wendy’s legacy to this storied program.