Fresno State and football coach TIM DERUYTER have "agreed to terms on a new five-year contract through 2018 that will more than double his base salary," and with performance bonuses, will "make him the highest paid football coach in the Mountain West Conference." Sources said that the contract "guarantees DeRuyter an average" of $1.5M annually over the length of the deal and the "bonuses from his original contract remain intact." DeRuyter was "paid a base salary of $650,000 in his first two seasons and last year made close" to $1.4M (FRESNO BEE, 1/21).
SHAVE & A HAIRCUT: Sabres C CODY HODGSON and Ds MIKE WEBER, ALEX SULZER, MARK PYSYK and BRAYDEN MCNABB yesterday "had their heads shaved in the First Niagara Center atrium" as part of the "Goin' Bald For Bucks" charity. Sabres fan ANTHONY GEORGE founded the charity during his sister's "third fight with cancer." The players all "eclipsed their goal of bringing in $1,000 in donations, and Hodgson has pledged to match the grand total." While the funds are "great and needed, George says the attention the Sabres will bring to the cause is more important" (BUFFALO NEWS, 1/21).
AWARDS & HONORS: Ad Age's "40 Under 40" list for '14 includes NFL Senior VP/Sponsorship & Partnership Management RENIE ANDERSON, Wieden + Kennedy's Nike Global Account Dir KARRELLE DIXON, Visa Global Sponsorship Marketing Manager COLEY HOLNBACK, AEG VP/Sales & Partnership Innovation TODD KLINE, Hillerich & Bradsby VP/Marketing KYLE SCHLEGEL and ESPN's NATE SILVER (ADAGE.com, 1/20)....MLB on May 30 will present poet MAYA ANGELOU, Rock & Roll HOFer BERRY GORDY and Pro Football HOFer JIM BROWN with the MLB Beacon Award at the annual Civil Rights Game in Houston (MLB).
CHARITY STRIPE: Ian's Friends Foundation presented Children's Healthcare of Atlanta with a $360,000 check prior to yesterday's Heat-Hawks game (AJC.com, 1/20)....The Bobcats and Walgreens yesterday announced the launch of the Dunk Hunger campaign, a five-week cereal drive that will benefit the Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina (Bobcats)....Red Sox GM BEN CHERINGTON on Saturday “helped kids with some painting projects” at McKinley Middle School in Boston (BOSTON GLOBE, 1/21).
NAMES: SARI ABRAHAM, daughter of former HBO Sports and MSG President SETH ABRAHAM, got married to MATTHEW IMBERMAN on Saturday at Gotham Hall in Manhattan (N.Y. TIMES, 1/19)....Paralympian BLAKE LEEPER, known as the "American Blade Runner," will serve as Honorary Race Official for the Daytona 500 (NEWS-JOURNALONLINE.com, 1/20)....Spanish-language network Mun2 on Jan. 26 will debut “WELCOME TO LOS VARGAS,” an unscripted series revolving around the family of former boxer FERNANDO VARGAS (VARIETY.com, 1/19)….First Lady MICHELLE OBAMA’s 50th birthday party at the White House on Saturday was attended by BILLIE JEAN KING, ALONZO MOURNING, MAGIC JOHNSON, EMMITT SMITH, AHMAD RASHAD and Disney Chair & CEO BOB IGER (N.Y. POST, 1/20)….Angels P JERED WEAVER is “nearing a sale" of his Mediterranean-style home in the Orange County, Calif., neighborhood of Pacific Ridge. Weaver paid $1.36M for the property in ’10. The 2,475-square-foot home “hit the market in mid-January” for $1.699M, but “saw its price increase $100,000 in the days that followed” (REALTOR.com, 1/20).
