October 14, 2008
[h1]Kansas State's Hill earns surprising salary[/h1]
Bob McClellan
Rivals.com College Basketball Editor
Michael Beasley made
Kansas State basketball relevant for the first time in more than a decade last season, and his presence put a few extradollars in the pocket of the man responsible for luring him to Manhattan, Kan.
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Assistant coach Dalonte Hill (left) delivered Michael Beasley to Frank Martin's Kansas State program. | |
That would be Wildcats assistant
Dalonte Hill,Beasley's former AAU coach in the Washington, D.C., area. Hill, entering his sixth season as a college assistant, will make more money for the 2008-09season than the entire three-man staffs at
Ohio State,
Washington State and
Wisconsin and only $5,000 less than the staff at
Texas, a survey done by Rivals.comshows.
K-State released Hill's contract in May. The school paid him $400,000 in 2007-08, and it will pay him $420,000 a year - $150,000 in base salary and$270,000 in "additional compensation," defined as "television, radio, internet, promotional and other services" - for the next four years.He is entering his third year at K-State.
Because private universities are not required to release salary information, it's unknown whether Hill is the highest-paid assistant in collegebasketball. But based on Freedom of Information requests, Hill is far and away the highest-paid assistant among public universities that finished in the top 15in the 2008 coaches' postseason poll. Rivals.com obtained the contracts and/or salary figures for the assistants at all 10 public schools that finished inthe top 15, as well as the contracts and salary figures for the assistants at
Florida and
Ohio State (because along with Texas they have two of the largest athletic budgets in thecountry) and
Kentucky (because of its status as a traditional basketball power).
"The number ($420,000) is staggering," an SEC assistant who spoke on the condition of anonymity told Rivals.com. "It might be better forassistant coaches if he got $300,000 because then it's closer to what some guys make and you could see asking for something close to that. But that numberis just so far out there I don't think any assistant would go in and ask for more."
The consensus opinion of coaches and assistants we spoke with is that Hill's contract is an anomaly and will have little ripple effect. But did it causeschools to look askance at K-State? Absolutely.
"I'm sure there is some resentment, probably in his own athletic department," the SEC assistant said. "What about the assistant footballcoaches there? What about other assistants in that league?"
K-State athletic director Bob Krause knows Hill's contract raised eyebrows. He says his intention wasn't to make headlines, only to do what hebelieved was right for his institution.
"It was a unique set of circumstances at a given point in time," Krause told Rivals.com. "It met our institutional needs as well as ourstaff's needs and was the right thing to do for us."
When asked if he had any concern about disrupting the salary structure of assistants nationwide, Krause replied, "None whatsoever."
Hill told Rivals.com that he knew of the salary figure before last season, even though it didn't become public until May. He said he had told most ofhis close friends in coaching and already had joked with them about it.
MONEY MATTERS | | | |
The salaries of the assistants at the schools in last season's Final Four pale in comparison to the $420,000 Kansas State assistant Dalonte Hill will be paid in 2008-09. Here are the salaries of the 12 assistants from national champion Kansas, runner-up Memphis, North Carolina and UCLA, ranked in order: | | | |
Name | School | Experience | 2008-09 salary |
1. Joe Holladay | UNC | 6th year at UNC | $265,000 |
2. Steve Robinson | UNC | 6th year at UNC | $242,000 |
T-3. Joe Dooley | Kansas | 6th year at Kansas | $234,000 |
T-3. Danny Manning | Kansas | 6th year at Kansas | $234,000 |
T-3. Kurtis Townsend | Kansas | 5th year at Kansas | $234,000 |
T-6. Donny Daniels | UCLA | 6th year at UCLA | $200,000 |
T-6. Josh Pastner | Memphis | 1st year at Memphis | $200,000 |
8. John Robic | Memphis | 4th year at Memphis | $185,000 |
9. Scott Duncan | UCLA | 2nd year at UCLA | $166,000 |
10. Orlando Antigua | Memphis | 1st year at Memphis | $145,000 |
11. Scott Garson | UCLA | 5th year at UCLA | $127,400 |
12. Jerod Haase | UNC | 6th year at UNC | $125,500 |
"I'm sure there is some resentment," Hill told Rivals.com. "There are some guys in the business who have accomplished alot of things. This just shows it's a new day and age. You know, for a long time Michael Jordan was paid just $2 million a year.
"There are some great assistants out there who deserve it, but it's not my place to give it to them, you know? I just hope they're not mad atme for getting what I got."
Krause said no athletic directors have called him to complain about K-State's deal with Hill.
"I haven't heard from anyone," Krause said. "Then again, I haven't called
Alabama and said what are youdoing with
Nick Saban's salary or called Lew Perkins at Kansas and asked about
Bill Self's salary. I would assume there have been stories written about(Hill's contract) being a concern on the national salary setting, but we're comfortable with it."
Technically, Hill's salary figure of $150,000 is in line with other assistants. But no other contract that we examined had an "additionalcompensation" package like that of Hill's.
The highest-paid assistant among the 13 schools we studied was
North Carolina's
JoeHolladay ($265,000). Fellow Tar Heels assistant
Steve Robinson was second($242,000), and all three Kansas assistants tied for third at $234,000.
Kansas athletic director Lew Perkins passed our interview request to Jim Marchiony, KU"s associate athletic director for external relations. When askedfor his school's reaction to Hill's contract, he said KU "didn't address contracts of coaches at other schools."
When asked if it had an impact on the salary structure for assistants anywhere, Marchiony said, "No, not here."
Hill said he hoped it would.
"We do a lot of the stuff that we don't get credit for," Hill said. "Everybody always says how great the head coach is, but you don'thear that much talk about how great the staff is. This will show some appreciation for the guys putting in the 12-hour days and doing the work behind thescenes.
"I'm not sure the numbers will be the same as mine, but athletic directors will get with head coaches and see what they can work out."
Tony Bennett's assistants at Washington State were the lowest-paid in theRivals.com survey. Each of his three assistants made $85,000 in 2007-08, a total of $255,000. They received raises of $25,000 each for the upcoming season, butthe salary total is just $330,000, well below Hill's $420,000.
Bo Ryan's assistants at
Wisconsin will make $402,799in 2008-09, led by associate head coach
Greg Gard's $160,000. Gard received asignificant raise, too, because his promotion to associate head coach came this offseason. The bump was $26,115 over last season, a raise of 19.5 percent. TheBadgers have been one of the nation's winningest programs since Ryan took over in 2001, and Gard has been on the staff for all seven seasons.
Ohio State and Texas rank first and second, respectively, in the nation in athletic budgets (each are above $100 million), but not much of it is going tobasketball assistants.
Last season, Ohio State's assistant salaries totaled nearly $500,000. But when top assistant
John Groce took the coaching job at Ohio University, the Buckeyes replaced him at a lowersalary. Groce was paid $225,000 last season. The newest addition to
Thad Matta'sstaff,
Brandon Miller, is making $135,000. It's the same salary as staffholdovers
Alan Major and
Archie Miller, bringing their total to $405,000.
The basketball assistants' salaries at Texas, a member of the Big 12 along with K-State, total $425,000 for the upcoming season.
Russell Springmann and
Rodney Terry each make $167,500, and Chris Ogden pulls in $90,000.
"I'd tell every one of those guys you can't even worry about it," a current coach who was an assistant in two of the "Big Six"conferences told Rivals.com on the condition of anonymity. "You're working for
Rick Barnes, who I think is one of the best in our game, and you live in Austin, Texas, andyou have all of those resources of the University of Texas.
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Martin, Kansas State's head coach, makes $760,000 compared to his assistant's $420,000. | |
"We all have our different timelines. If you're in it for the long haul, it matters more who you're with than whatyou're making."
Hill played three seasons at Charlotte (1997-2000) before transferring and playing his final season at Division II Bowie (Md.) State. He coached the DCAssault in the AAU ranks for two years before
Bobby Lutz hired him to be anassistant at Charlotte.
After three years with the 49ers,
Bob Huggins lured Hill to Kansas State. Hill wasresponsible for the recruitment of Beasley, who stuck with his pledge to play for the Wildcats even though Huggins left for
West Virginia after justone season.
Hill coached Beasley in the AAU ranks, and Beasley called him "like a big brother." Beasley had committed to Charlotte while Hill was still there.When Huggins lured Hill to K-State, Beasley followed him. By then, Beasley had become the No. 1 prospect in the country.
In his final season at Charlotte, the 2005-06 campaign, Hill made $70,000.
Hill's contract extension at K-State came five months after he was arrested on suspicion of DUI. The incident occurred in the wee hours of the morningafter Kansas State's upset of Kansas at Bramlage Coliseum, the Wildcats' first home win over the rival Jayhawks since 1983. Hill and coach
Frank Martin agreed he should not be on the bench for the next game, against
Missouri.
At the time the contract became public, Krause justified it by saying K-State's salary structure with the head coach included is in line with the restof the Big 12, which is true. Martin makes $760,000; coupled with Hill's deal, that is $1.18 million. Texas' Barnes makes $2 million.
Krause told the Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World that Hill put the K-State program on a different plane when he secured the signing of Beasley.
"I'd hate to put a value on what the exposure, both print and electronic, has been on Michael," Krause told the newspaper. "That's anidentification with a guy who's a very strong advocate of K-State and, in his own words, will always be a part of the K-State family. Michael's lovefor K-State - it's priceless, just priceless."
If you were going to put a price on it, it apparently would start at around $420,000 a year.
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Seven questions to ponder before Midnight Madness
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COMMENTS 15
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Posted: October 13, 2008
Four days before the official start of preseason practice, with most college basketball programs holding their Midnight Madness ritual on Friday, we allhave questions about what will happen in the coming season.
Wouldn't it be great if we could see each of them answered before everything gets started?
1) How will teams be affected by the new 3-point line?
It'd be easy to say it's only a foot, that teams have had several months to practice from the longer distance, and there'll be no differenceonce the season begins.
But the only data we have suggests the change could be radical. Those numbers come from U.S. participation in international play, which uses a 20-foot,6-inch line for the 3-point shot. That's closer to the goal than the 20-feet, 9-inches that'll be the new rule for college, yet some of the best youngAmerican players have struggled terribly when adjusting to the international distance.
In the past three competitions for college-age players -- the 2007 Pan-American Games, the 2007 Under-19 World Championships and the 2008 Under-18 FIBAAmericas Championships, the U.S. shot a combined 119-of-393 (30.3 percent) from 3-point range. Now, that figure is deflated by the fact the international gameuses a shorter shot clock, but it ought to have been inflated by the presence of elite players on those teams: Davidson's Stephen Curry, MichiganState's Drew Neitzel and Washington State's Derrick Low.
The game could change more than coaches would have you believe.
2) What will UCLA do with Jrue Holiday?
We've wondered aloud where all the guards will fit now that the Bruins added freshmen Holiday, Malcolm Lee and Jerime Anderson to a backcourt thatalready included veterans Darren Collison, Josh Shipp and Michael Roll. But most of that will work out over time, as Lee and Anderson adjust to college, andRoll becomes comfortable again following a redshirt year.
The real trick is how the Bruins maximize the use of Holiday's diverse talents. He is a powerful driver, an eager passer and occasionally a long-rangethreat. He should be a terrific defender after a few months working with Ben Howland. ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla compares Holiday to Dwyane Wade. In thatcase, the answer might be to give him the ball and get out of his way.
3) Is there another Davidson out there?
This question gets asked more than any other, and it's the hardest thing to predict. Look at Drake last year -- that team was picked ninth in itsconference and wound up with a No. 5 seed in the NCAAs. So much of what happens at the mid-major level is a matter of chemistry and experience. Nothing isharder to predict.
But having seen Davidson work out this fall, I'd say Davidson could be the next Davidson.
4) How healthy is (fill in the blank)?
Michigan State freshman power forward Delvon Roe (knee) says he's good. Pitt point guard Levance Fields (foot) insists he'll be fine. Gonzaga dodgeda calamitous situation with forward Austin Daye (knee). North Carolina forward Marcus Ginyard (foot) will miss about two months, but that'll give DannyGreen more playing time and force the Tar Heels generally to work harder at team defense.
Injuries can damage teams by delaying their development or help them by increasing the pressure on others to elevate their games. It's hard to be surewhich until we get to the end.
5) Can James Johnson fit at small forward?
To get its five best players on the floor, Wake Forest would need to move Johnson to the perimeter so freshman Al-Farouq Aminu can play power forward nextto center Chas McFarland. That'd make the Deacons unusually big. While Johnson certainly is spring enough to play the 3, he has a power forward's upperbody and shot only 28 percent from 3-point range last year.
Although Wake finished 17-13 overall and 7-9 in the ACC last year, this is not an irrelevant question. The Deacs begin this season as one of the mostdangerous threats to the teams generally predicted to finish at the top.
6) Who plays the point for Texas?
We all know A.J. Abrams wants a shot. What if he gets it and it doesn't work? How does he handle that? What if UT just decides to go with redshirtfreshman Dogus Balbay? Is he good enough? That's a lot of questions for a team that won 30-plus games and returns eight of the top nine guys from thatteam.
7) Is there anyone out there who can challenge Carolina?
It's quite likely North Carolina will lose some games this season. But can anyone hang with the Tar Heels when it matters most?