Basketball coach Richard Pitino’s contract with the University of Minnesota includes bonus compensation based on performance by the Gophers. His team won its opening Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament game last night against Penn State and if the Gophers become tourney champions on Sunday he will earn $25,000 in bonus money.
The win left the Gophers with a 20-12 overall season record. Minnesota had an 8-10 Big Ten regular season record and it’s believed the Gophers can attract an NCAA Tournament invite if they defeat nationally ranked Wisconsin tonight in their conference tournament quarterfinal game. A victory over the Badgers would advance the Gophers to a Saturday semi-final game in the tournament.
Pitino’s contract incentives include $50,000 if the Gophers are invited to the NCAA Tournament. He earns additional payments of $50,000 each if Minnesota plays in the tournament’s Sweet 16 and Final Four. An NCAA national championship rewards him with a $100,000 bonus.
Pitino would have received a $50,000 bonus if the Gophers had a winning record during the Big Ten’s regular season. A regular season conference championship would also reward him with a $50,000 bonus.
Pitino won’t win conference or national coach of the year honors in 2014 but there are bonuses in his contract for those awards. He could earn $25,000 for Big Ten Coach of the Year and $50,000 for National Coach of the Year.
Pitino became the Gophers coach last spring after signing a contract that commenced on April 8 and ends on April 30, 2019. He receives what the contract describes as “base salary and supplemental compensation.”
His salary is $500,000, but beginning on May 1, 2014 and every year thereafter his annual performance review can result in an increase of “no less than 5% per year,” per the contract. The supplemental compensation is $700,000 annually and “….is in recognition of coach’s efforts on behalf of the University for media, fundraising, community involvement, endorsements, and apparel, shoes and equipment arrangements.”
Among conference coaches, Pitino’s $1.2 million annual compensation ranks near the bottom of the Big Ten. At 31 he is the league’s youngest head coach and has only two seasons of college head coaching experience.
Worth Noting
A crowd of 179 CORES lunch attendees listened yesterday to former Vikings head coach Bud Grant at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Bloomington. Grant talked about friends who died during military service in World War II, labeling them “heroes” and distinguishing those individuals from athletes who can be “stars” but not heroes. CORES is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans.
The ballot announced by the National Football Foundation for possible 2014 inductees into the College Football Hall of Fame includes several names with Minnesota ties: Former Saint John’s two-time first-team All-American wide receiver Blake Elliott; Randall Cunningham, an All-American punter at UNLV and former Vikings quarterback; Ross Fortier, the winningest coach in Minnesota Moorhead history; Clint Jones who was a two-time first-team All-American at Michigan State and an ex-Vikings running back; former Vikings running back Darrin Nelson, an All-American at Stanford who was the first player in NCAA history to run for over 1,000 yards and catch more than 50 passes in a single season; James Malosky who at the time of his retirement in 1997 from Minnesota Duluth was the winningest coach in Division II history; and Billy Jack Murphy, a former Gophers assistant coach who became the winningest head coach in Memphis history.
The Minnesota M Club will have a 100 year anniversary celebration on August 16 with boat rides and a barbecue at the Mississippi River Boat House in Minneapolis. The Gophers’ club is one of the oldest—if not the oldest—letterwinners club in the nation having started in 1914.
Gophers football booster Mark Sheffert authors a monthly column for Twin Cities Business. In the March issue he writes about the longevity of Minnesota coach Jerry Kill‘s staff and relates that to his column theme regarding the benefit of business professionals having experience working together: “The Value of Tenured Teams.”
Ex-Gophers and NFL coach Tony Dungy and NFL TV host James Brown will speak at a morning event on March 22 at Grace Church in Eden Prairie. “Arise with the Guys” will offer motivational messages, and tickets are priced at $10 and $20. More information at Arisewiththeguys.com.
Former Twins first baseman Justin Morneau has only played in four spring training games for the Rockies and has two hits in 10 at bats.
Danny Santana, who some day could become the Twins regular shortstop, is hitting .368 in spring training. The 23-year-old native of the Dominican Republic is rated the Twins No. 9 prospect and best defensive infielder in the organization’s minor league system by Baseball America.
Ryan Boldt, an outfielder from Red Wing who plays for Nebraska, is Big Ten Freshman of the Week for his performance last week. He had six runs and six hits—both team highs—in a three-game sweep over St. John’s of New York.
CartRev, a new Saint Paul-based firm, offers golf courses the opportunity to turn refreshment carts into mobile billboards and point-of-sale displays. Using vinyl wraps similar to those on buses, the carts are a unique way for advertisers to reach target markets and offer a new source of revenue for golf courses. Patrick Klinger, former vice-president of marketing for the Twins, has made CarRev a division of Patrick Klinger & Co. More at CartRev.com.
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