STrib: Decision time for Gophers' Mark Coyle on contracts forLucia, Stollings, Pitino

[BleedGopher]

per Joe:

Extension for Stollings?

Contract info: Stollings signed a one-year extension in August 2015 under interim athletic director Beth Goetz, shortly after Teague’s dismissal. The contract runs through 2020-21. Stollings is making $500,000 per season. The buyout is $325,000 per remaining season, so $975,000.

Decision time: Extend her contract now, or continue evaluating?

The case for: Stollings, 43, has corrected course in season four. After a first-round NCAA loss in 2015, the Gophers finished 20-12 and 15-16 the past two years, settling for the WNIT. But her team is on a serious run, at 21-7 and 10-5 in the Big Ten, including an upset of No. 10 Maryland last Sunday.

The case against: The Gophers drew an announced 2,415 for last week’s win over a ranked Michigan squad, followed by crowds of 4,625 for Maryland and 3,477 for Indiana. Minnesotans haven’t quite connected with Stollings. Pam Borton recruited Rachel Banham and Carlie Wagner. Minnesota natives have transferred into Stollings’ program, including Kenisha Bell, but the coach has yet to sign one in-state scholarship recruit out of high school. And this year’s team still has work to do to avoid missing the NCAA tournament for a third straight year.

Forecast: Before the season, some boosters predicted change was coming, but Stollings has changed the conversation. If the Gophers make the tourney, would Coyle reward Stollings for an NCAA appearance as he did Pitino, with an extension? The buyout will be interesting to track in any contract revision, as it’s rare that a school would fire a nonrevenue sport’s coach with a buyout approaching $1 million. When Teague fired Borton, for example, her buyout was $335,000.

http://www.startribune.com/decision...a-marlene-stollings-richard-pitino/474864373/

Go Gophers!!

 

[Shades]

A pass for now and re-evaluate next season with the exodus of Wagner, Edwards, and Fernstrom.
If she can score Bueckers over Geno, it’s all roses for her. When’s the earliest Bueckers can LOI?

 

[gpher]

A pass for now and re-evaluate next season with the exodus of Wagner, Edwards, and Fernstrom.
If she can score Bueckers over Geno, it’s all roses for her. When’s the earliest Bueckers can LOI?

November of Senior year

 

[tripledouble]

A couple of things: Coyle might have to extend Stollings' contract by a year, but for recruiting purposes only. If they give her an extension, I'd suggest strongly that they get the outrageous buyout amount down. And, although I would love to get Bueckers, we certainly can't hold it against Stollings if she can't sign Bueckers. On the other hand, if she signs Bueckers, that would certainly cement Stollings job here. The Star Trib writer laid out the pros and cons for an extension well, I thought. Yes, it does concern me that Stollings has yet to sign an in-state recruit. Although the Minnesota girls ranks have not be plentiful in those years, there have been people that she could have signed, and there are some good classes of recruits coming up. Although home attendance hasn't been tremendous in Stollings' regime, I wouldn't lay a lot of that on Stollings. Her teams certainly play an entertaining style of basketball. I think it goes to show how difficult it can be to get season ticket holders back into the fold after you lose them. I'm convinced that the interest is still there, but it's going to take 3 or 4 years of consistent winning to get the attendance up to where they wish it would be. Earlier in the year, I was on the buyout bandwagon for Stollings. But now, I'm not so sure. I'd like to see more, and see if she can continue to move the program forward. But I'm not in favor of a long extension. And to me, the buyout amount is more important than the salary. If they extend Stollings they definitely need to work to decrease the outrageous buyout.

 

[Katogopher]

Was really on the fence going into the season. Personally I felt her brand of basketball or coaching would not work in the BIG but this year she proved me wrong. Would still like a stronger presence in the middle and see her recruit more post players but if she can get Bueckers I will personally deliver coach Stolling a her contract extension...just sayin’

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

https://www.landof10.com/iowa/iowa-buyout-contracts-kirk-ferentz-fran-mccaffery

It's not about Stollings; but, in the "what are your peers getting" category, here's a bit about Lisa Bluder's Iowa contract and what it would take to buy her out.

Lisa Bluder, women’s basketball — $4.14 million. This is based on Bluder receiving 5 percent increases for two consecutive years after signing her latest extension in 2016. This year, Iowa is a shoo-in to make the NCAA Tournament, which would trigger an automatic two-year extension, a minimum 8 percent raise and extend her contract to seven years through 2025. She is owed her remaining guaranteed salary if she’s dismissed.