Kentucky Says Calipari's Lucrative Contract Won't Impact Budget

Calipari Will Get Two Cars, 20 Tickets To Games, Golf Membership As Part Of Deal

Univ. of Kentucky (UK) Deputy AD Rob Mullens said that new men's basketball coach John Calipari's eight-year, $31.65M deal, plus the cost of buying out former coach Billy Gillispie's agreement, "won't overstrain resources of the university's athletics fund," according to Warren & Honeycutt Spears of the LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER. Mullens said that UK "won't have to recruit more donors or seek extra revenue to come up with the money." The figures "might be tough to swallow, however, for some UK faculty members, who got no pay increase this year because of budget restrictions, and apparently might not get one next year." Calipari's contract runs through the '16-17 season, and provides a base salary of $400,000 per year, plus additional millions of dollars annually from UK broadcasting and endorsement agreements. Calipari's pay from those agreements "in the first year will be $3.3[M]." The agreements "include an arrangement with IMG College, which pays UK about $8[M] annually for rights to broadcast games." Winning the SEC Tournament in any year "would pay him an additional $50,000," while getting the team to the Final Four "would bring him an extra $175,000, and winning the National Championship would guarantee a performance supplement of $375,000." There also are "incentive rewards of up to $50,000 if the basketball team achieves strong academic performances or high graduation rates" (LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER, 4/2). In Louisville, Brett Dawson reports as part of Calipari's new deal, he is "provided with two automobiles, an expense account, 20 lower-arena tickets for each game in Rupp Arena, benefits and retirement plans, 20 days of paid vacation and membership in a golf and country club of his choice." If UK fires him "without cause, it would owe him $3[M] for each remaining contract year, to be paid over the remainder of the scheduled term of the contract" (Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL, 4/2). 

PRIORITIES IN ORDER? In Louisville, Stephenie Steitzer notes $14.26M, or 21.6%, of UK's athletics revenue "comes from men's basketball ticket sales and a cut of revenue generated from televising SEC basketball games and the conference tournament." UK President Lee Todd said, "That's what the advantage of being in the [SEC] is for us." But UK Department of Politcal Science Chair Don Gross said that Calipari's salary "calls into question the priorities of the university and state." Gross: "It says something about the priorities of this state that it's easy to raise $6[M] to pay off a coach but hard to raise $6[M] for an academic program" (Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL, 4/2). CRAIN'S CHICAGO BUSINESS' Ed Sherman writes, "With universities cutting back left and right, it just seems reckless to give one coach $31[M]. Think about the programs and scholarships that could be funded with that kind of money." Sherman: "You can be certain [Calipari's] fellow coaches are applauding his new contract. Given the way the market is going, in a few years, signing a coach for $31[M] over eight years probably will seem like a bargain" (CHICAGOBUSINESS.com, 4/2).

ROLLING THE DICE: A LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER editorial states, "UK could've done better. And certainly could've gotten someone without a reputation as a shady recruiter and overseer of programs at Memphis and the University of Massachusetts whose athletes have had nasty brushes with the law and/or NCAA regulations. ... To be fair, Calipari has never been implicated personally in NCAA violations. However, his players' graduation record has been lower than UK's. ... Make no mistake: this is a big-stakes gamble for Todd" and UK AD Mitch Barnhart (LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER, 4/2).