USA TODAY International Edition
Coaches got bonus pay for canceled NCAA tourney
The financial damage of the COVID- 19 pandemic to college athletics forced schools to seek support from their highest- paid employees. Men’s basketball coaches were among those asked to take pay cuts or deferrals of salaries to help offset the losses due to reduced fan attendance, lost games and other casualties during the unprecedented season.
Another part of the financial equation between the schools and the men’s basketball coaches is the status of their bonuses. Some were left untouched. Some were reduced or eliminated. The truncated season last year meant that potential payouts were lost because conference tournaments and the NCAA Tournament weren’t completed or played. To address this, some schools were willing stipulate achievements on the assumption that games were played. Others got creative.
A look at some of the interesting bonus situations from last season.
Paid bonuses
There was a legal dilemma for schools when the NCAA Tournament was called off. What do you do about bonuses that were to due to coaches who clearly would have made the field? Do you pay them for an appearance that never happened or do you not reward them for a season worthy of being in the field?
Ten schools decided on the former option, allowing their respective coaches to cash in:
Bobby Hurley, Arizona State: $ 75,000.
Tony Bennett, Virginia: $ 50,000. Greg Gard, Wisconsin: $ 50,000. Bruce Pearl, Auburn: $ 50,000. Mike White, Florida: $ 37,500. Dana Altman, Oregon: $ 25,000. Tom Izzo, Michigan State: $ 25,000. Steve Pikiell, Rutgers: $ 25,000. Mark Turgeon, Maryland: $ 25,000. Brad Underwood, Illinois: $ 25,000. Oregon said Altman donated his tournament bonus back to the school.
Good and bad for Hamilton
One coach who didn’t get a tournament bonus was Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton. He was due $ 200,000 for that achievement. He also missed out on payments for earning a top four seed in the field, which the Seminoles would have achieved after going 26- 5, and for making consecutive tournaments. Each bonus is $ 50,000.
However, FSU didn’t completely ignore what Hamilton accomplished. The school paid his $ 150,000 bonus for winning the Atlantic Coast tournament – even though the Seminoles never played in the event that was canceled before the quarterfinals. Perhaps the justification was they were the top seed after wining the regular- season conference title, which earned the coach $ 150,000. He was also paid $ 200,000 for finishing in the top 10 of the final USA TODAY Sports poll. Other bonuses earned were for ACC coach of the year ($ 100,000), winning 12 ACC games ($ 50,000) and 20 wins in the regular season ($ 50,000), bringing his total extra pay to $ 700,000.
More guaranteed money for Illinois’ Underwood
Illinois’ Underwood agreed to an extension running through the 2025- 26 season that was announced March 2, 2020. As part of the new deal, the Illinois coach would have the guaranteed money in the second and third years of the contract increased by $ 2 million in the event of his firing if the school made the NCAA Tournament in either 2020 or 2021.
The Illini were on track to make the field with a 21- 10 record last year when the Big Ten tournament was called off. The school agreed to stipulate the NCAA appearance in an amendment to his contract, bringing his buyout after the 2021- 22 season to $ 8 million and $ 6 million after the 2022- 23 season.
The extra benefit was only one part of the added compensation he earned for the 2019- 20 season. Among the bonuses Underwood received were for a 10% of prior year’s paid attendance ($ 25,000), a win against Indiana ($ 15,000), 10 Big Ten regular- season wins ($ 15,000) and 20 regular- season wins ($ 15,000).