Creating functions

ok guys, i have this code to create a function in SQL Server 2000

CREATE FUNCTION dbo.FncBasicRate (@emp_cde varchar(8))
RETURNS int
AS
BEGIN
declare @return as int;
set @return = select basicrate from employee where emp_cde = @emp_cde
return @return
END


i cant save it, it says 'incorrect syntax near the keyword select'