Menu
Colleges

Men's Basketball Tournament Coaches Earning Average Of $1.4M This Season

The coaches of the 68 teams that participated in this year's NCAA men's basketball tournament "will make $1.4 million on average this season," according to an analysis cited by Jodi Upton of USA TODAY. Among the 33 coaches whose salary has been tracked the last two seasons, the average pay "was up 11% to $1.7 million, not including bonuses averaging up to $390,000." Louisville coach Rick Pitino was the top earner with more than $7.5M in compensation this season, "dwarfing the $85,000 of Northern Colorado's B.J. Hill." Pitino's pay was "boosted by a $3.6 million bonus for completing three years of his contract," and if he "holds out another three years, he'll get another $3.6 million bonus in 2013." Kentucky coach John Calipari is the top earner among Final Four coaches, as he will earn $3.9M this year, "with an additional $650,000 in tournament bonus money available." VCU coach Shaka Smart by contrast "will make $424,000, with about $257,000 in possible tournament bonuses" (USA TODAY, 3/31). The following lists tournament coaches whose compensation is over $2M this season.

SCHOOL
COACH
UNIV.
PAY
OTHER
PAY
TOTAL PAY
MAX BONUS
Louisville
Rick Pitnino
$6,100,000
$1,431,378
$7,531,378
$575,000
Duke
Mike Krzyzewski
$4,195,519
NA
$4,195,519
NA
Kentucky
John Calipari
$3,800,000
$117,000
$3,917,000
$850,000
Kansas
Bill Self
$3,375,656
$240,000
$3,615,656
$425,000
Florida
Billy Donovan
$3,575,400
$0
$3,575,400
$487,583
Michigan State
Tom Izzo
$3,090,000
$475,000
$3,565,000
$350,000
Ohio State
Thad Matta
$2,542,000
$107,000
$2,649,000
$320,000
Arizona
Sean Miller
$1,950,000
$355,805
$2,305,805
$985,000
Connecticut
Jim Calhoun
$2,300,000
NA
$2,300,000
$102,083
Texas
Rick Barnes
$2,200,000
$0
$2,200,000
$765,000
UCLA
Ben Howland
$2,010,000
NA
$2,010,000
$235,000

PAYS TO GRADUATE: Upton notes Calipari receives a bonus of "up to $100,000 if 75% of his players graduate," and his "academic bonus is among the highest in Division I men's basketball." Twenty-three of the 41 public schools in the tournament that provided contract information "offer such academic bonuses," ranging from $3,000 for Utah State coach Stew Morrill to $175,000 for Pitino. But Upton notes "dangling incentives to make sure a coach gets athletes through school is controversial." A "significant bonus might keep a coach's focus on academics," but Upton wonders, "Should coaches be paid more for a fundamental part of their job?" (USA TODAY, 3/31).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2011/03/31/Colleges/Coaches-Salaries.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2011/03/31/Colleges/Coaches-Salaries.aspx

CLOSE