ORONO – During a visit to the University of Maine campus last week, Cindy Blodgett had a chance to walk through some of the school’s athletic facilities such as Alfond Arena and Memorial Gym.

The memories of her own playing days came back to her.

“It’s such a familiar place,” she said Wednesday night. “Just walking through the Pit, going to see (athletic director) Blake (James) when I first arrived, walking through the equipment room and smelling the grays. It was as simple as that. That scent. It was so familiar. There are a lot of things that are the same.”

Blodgett is home now, as the University of Maine announced Wednesday evening her hiring as the school’s 10th women’s basketball coach.

The 1998 UMaine graduate, a four-time All-American, was introduced at a crowded press conference in the Dexter Lounge, steps away from the basketball court on which she electrified legions of fans who packed Alfond Arena during her playing days.

Blodgett, a 31-year-old Clinton native, replaces Ann McInerney, who resigned April 11 after two sub-.500 seasons.

University of Maine President Robert Kennedy and James introduced Blodgett to a crowd that included Maine staffers and administrators, media, fans and former players.

“I can’t tell you how excited I really am to be here today,” said Blodgett, who left the Boston area at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday to be in Orono for the announcement.

Blodgett was an assistant coach at Brown University for the past two years.

Her contract at Maine is for four years with an annual salary of $105,000.

Blodgett was one of four finalists. The other three were University of North Carolina Asheville head coach Betsy Blose, University of California assistant coach Lindsay Gottlieb and former University of Illinois associate head coach Marsha Frese.

The fact that Blodgett has limited experience as a college coach compared to the other three finalists wasn’t an issue for Maine’s six-member search committee, of which James was a member.

“(It was) the total picture,” James said. “If you look at what Cindy’s accomplished throughout her career as a player I think you have to equate the experience she had professionally into a lot of experience. Obviously (it was) an opportunity to bring the greatest women’s basketball player back to the university and what that means for our program.”

James said there was no external pressure to hire Blodgett, who was such a fan favorite at Maine that she is believed to be the first female college athlete to have a merchandise line of items such as jerseys, shorts, and socks with her name.

“We found the best person for the job,” James said.

The Black Bears finished the 2006-07 season with a 13-15 record.

Blodgett, who led NCAA Division I in scoring as a sophomore and junior, holds seven University of Maine career records, five season standards, and five single-game marks.

The former Lawrence of Fairfield star is UMaine’s career leader in points (3,005).

After her 1998 graduation from Maine, Blodgett was the sixth overall pick in the WNBA draft by the Cleveland Rockers. She played one season with the Rockers after which she was traded to the Sacramento Monarchs. In 2001, her final WNBA season, Blodgett appeared in 11 of 32 games and averaged 6.5 minutes and 3.1 points per game.

Blodgett also played professionally in France.

She began her coaching career as a graduate assistant at Boston University in 1999-2000. After studying to become a massage therapist, she returned to coaching in 2005-06 as an assistant at Brown.

“There’s so much more to running a program than practices and games,” she said. “For me, I got a chance to see how I’d like to do it, how it’s done at Brown but how I might like to change it when I have the ability to.”