If you thought you heard strains of the Hallelujah chorus playing today, well, you did. Coach Kevin Ollie has signed a new five-year contract with UConn, officially ending the teeth-gnashing, nail-biting sturm and drang surrounding the future of UConn’s men’s basketball program.
While KO has been saying all along that his intention was to stay in Storrs, with every day that passed and every NBA coach who got fired, the fear mongering in the Nutmeg State increased. But we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief. The NBA came calling (or at least the Cavs did, if rumors are true) and our beloved coach decided to dance with the one who brung him. And we love him for it.
“My heart is here at UConn,” KO told ESPN. “I want to stay invested in the student-athletes lives on and off the court. I want to be here.”
According to reports, Ollie’s average yearly compensation with be $2.8 million, and with incentives more than $3 million. That more than doubles his current salary of $1.25 million, making him one of the highest paid coaches in the NCAA, and the highest paid coach in the AAC. To put this in perspective, Jim Calhoun made $2.7 million in his final season. So KO is already making more than his Hall of Fame predecessor. Those numbers looks really impressive until you consider the fact that Golden state just agreed to pay Steve Kerr, he of zero coaching experience, $5 million a year to run their team. So Ollie could assuredly have gotten a more lucrative deal coaching in the NBA. This is good news, guys. Really, really good news.
As of this writing, however, the details of the buyout clause (aka, what KO would have to pay UConn to get out of his contract) had not been released. We’ll update in this space when we have that information.
Shortly after the news broke, Ollie tweeted, “Thank you God for opening up so many Doors, for me to be working in Storrs!! Make today Matter!! UConn Love…”
While the five year contract doesn’t guarantee that KO stays that long at UConn, I think it’s safe to say we have a least a couple more years of Ollie-isms ahead of us.
Now go take the stairs. Because, remember, escalators are for cowards.
