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15 May 2010
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Changes in Big East Conference basketball could change the contract for West Virginia University Coach Bob Huggins.
Four conference schools fired and hired coaches this offseason and three others agreed to revise contracts with their current coaches. All of the new coaches were hired at salaries above their predecessor's and each of the extended contracts gave the coaches more total compensation.
The lifetime contract Huggins signed in May 2008 features a rare clause that links his salary to the "mean Total Guaranteed Compensation of all Big East head coaches," which means the average sum of base salary and supplemental compensation.
In the 2008-09 season, the WVU graduate's total compensation was to be $1.5 million plus a retention incentive fee of either $100,000 or the gap between the total compensation and the Big East's mean, whichever was greater.
WVU Deputy Director of Athletics Mike Parsons said there was no adjustment and in May 2009 Huggins had $100,000 added to the total of his supplemental compensation of $1,250,000 and base salary of $250,000.
However, beginning in the 2009-10 season and throughout the rest of the contract, WVU is to compare its total compensation to the mean total compensation of all Big East coaches. If it's found Huggins makes less than the mean, he immediately gets bumped to that level.
That figure is then the basis for future measures and adjustments, including the annual retention incentive due at the end of every contract year.
The contract was negotiated by the previous presidential administration. Parsons wouldn't speculate as to why the mean condition was included.
