KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -Bill Self, the Kansas basketball coach who guided the Jayhawks to their first NCAA championship in 20 years, signed a 10-year, $30 million contract Wednesday.
The deal had been in the works since April, when Self’s Jayhawks came from nine points down in the final minutes to beat Memphis in a thrilling title game and he subsequently turned down an offer to return to Oklahoma State, his alma mater.
Kansas and Self said in April he had agreed to the deal while the details were worked on. Kansas also agreed to big raises for his staff as well as improvements on the school’s basketball facilities.
This summer, Kansas opened a new $31 million football complex. Improvements to Allen Fieldhouse and other facilities, including basketball training rooms and locker rooms, are expected to be in the same neighborhood.
Self’s prior contract paid him an annual total of $1.61 million and had three years remaining. The new deal is retroactive to April 1.
Coaches’ contracts are difficult to compare because they all contain various clauses, incentives and private money donated by boosters. Florida’s Billy Donovan is thought to be the highest-salaried basketball coach at about $3.5 million.
Under Self’s new contract, his salary will remain at $229,900. But the package will include an annual payment of $2,270,100 in private money for “professional services” and other incentives.
Athletic director Lew Perkins said the contract was easy to work out.
“I wouldn’t even use the word ‘negotiate,”’ Perkins told The Associated press. “The entire process was positive from day one. We didn’t squabble over anything. There was never a question we would get this worked out. It’s nice to know we’re going to have our coach for a long period of time.”
Perkins hesitated to call it a lifetime deal.
“Bill’s only 45. In 10 years, he’ll still be a young man of 55,” Perkins said. “But we feel very good about where we are, and where we’re going.”
The professional services, the school said in a release, could include “educational, public relations and promotional duties as assigned by the director of athletics. Such duties could include the production of any radio or television shows, Internet features or Self’s occasional endorsement of products affiliated with and approved by Kansas Athletics or its marketing partner(s).”
There had been speculation that oilman and Oklahoma State fan T. Boone Pickens would make Self a megabuck offer to come to the Cowboys. But Kansas made it clear in April it meant to keep its coach for the rest of his career.
“From the moment he stepped on campus, Bill Self has represented this university with class and with dignity,” chancellor Robert Hemenway said when announcing that Self had turned down the Oklahoma State offer and accepted the tentative 10-year deal with Kansas.
In five years since replacing Roy Williams at Kansas, Self has a 142-32 record, including going 64-16 in Big 12 games.
He has won or shared the last four Big 12 regular-season titles and the last three conference tournament championships. The Jayhawks’ 2008 NCAA championship came in the same academic year as the football team’s 12-1 record and Orange Bowl victory, giving Kansas its greatest run in athletics.
Football coach Mark Mangino recently signed a $2.3 million contract extension that makes him among the three highest-paid football coaches in the Big 12.
“I’m very thankful to chancellor Hemenway and Lew for the confidence they have shown in me,” Self said in a release. “I have said many times that I cannot imagine a better place to play, or to coach, than the University of Kansas. My family and I look forward to being part of the Kansas and Lawrence communities for many years to come.”
The package has a retention clause paying Self $500,000 for each year during the contract that he serves as Kansas’ coach.
The contract also includes several incentives that could total an additional $425,000 per year.
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