The national letter of intent signing period for men’s basketball recruits ended Wednesday and now the University of Hawaii can get on to collecting another signature.
That of its head coach, Eran Ganot.
Ganot and his immediate supervisor, athletic director David Matlin, were scheduled to sit down this week on a number of items, including a contract extension and raise for the Big West Coach of the Year.
An issue, we are told, is the length of that extension. Ganot has told boosters he wants three years added on. Matlin has been offering two.
The prudent path, if you are UH, with an expensive and extensive history of buying out contracts, and somebody coming off his first season as a head coach, is two years.
That would fairly address not only the record-breaking 2015-16 season but the 2016-17 campaign of an NCAA postseason ban currently hanging over the program.
It would, in essence, have Ganot operating on a four-year agreement since he still has two years remaining from the initial three-year deal signed last year when he took over.
A three-year extension, meanwhile, means a five-year deal and contracts of more than four years usually require Board of Regents approval. The last UH coach to have more than a five-year deal was Dave Shoji.
If it lands in their laps, you have to wonder how keen the board would be to endorse that long of a term in the wake of the millions of dollars in buyouts UH has forked over in recent years: Gib Arnold, Norm Chow, Greg McMackin, Bob Nash etc.
Especially since Ganot’s resume is as a single-season head coach.
It was a terrific year to be sure going 28-6, but a major component was championship-capable players inherited from his predecessors. The hope is that Ganot will assemble his own title contender, but, in the absence of a track record with his recruits, hope is all that it is right now.
Four years is enough for UH to demonstrate a commitment and should be ample time for Ganot to construct his own title contender in the Big West Conference, where UH has the best arena, biggest crowds and most resources.
The financial side should be less of a hang-up. Ganot, who earned $225,000 in 2015-16, already gets a $7,500 raise that was built in to his contract and there are indications an added bump will take it beyond the contracted $232,500.
The length of contract looks to be a recurring issue. Not long after Ganot agreed to a three-year term with UH last April, reports surfaced that he wanted to revisit the deal in hopes of adding a fourth year. But the school wasn’t willing.
Seven months later the new head football coach, Nick Rolovich, successfully negotiated a four-year deal. But Rolovich’s trade-off was in up-front cash, where his $400,008 salary ranked last in the 12-member Mountain West Conference in base salary and was just above the minimum ($392,142) of the salary scale for the position at UH. The men’s basketball minimum was $185,000.
Win and the extensions are sure to follow.
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.
