Found this interesting, from Katz's blog today:
Hill's stunning $420K makes waves
Kansas State associate head coach Dalonte Hill is still stunned by the whopping $420,000 a year contract he received in May.
His two primary superiors, head coach Frank Martin and athletic director Bob Krause, aren't at all surprised by the amount or the long-term security found in the five-year contract, another rarity for an assistant coach.
The rest of the basketball community that ESPN.com contacted, including a number of current and former coaches in the Big 12, are befuddled by how the 29-year-old Hill could suddenly be perhaps the highest-paid assistant coach in the country. He is entering just his third season with the Wildcats. He started as an assistant at his alma mater Charlotte in 2003 after a two-year stint coaching summer-league team DC Assault (the home to future Wildcat Michael Beasley).
"It confused me to give someone with a few years experience that kind of money," a former Kansas State administrator said under the condition of anonymity.
"I was shocked when it was offered to me," Hill said. "I think they looked at it, me being young, that I took the chance with Bob Huggins coming here and rewarded me for sticking around."
Hill was the main reason Kansas State earned the services of Beasley for one season. Beasley originally committed to Charlotte when Hill was on staff with Bobby Lutz. But then Huggins recruited Hill to his staff at Kansas State, and when Hill left for Manhattan, Kan., Beasley switched his commitment to K-State. And the forward honored the commitment as Hill stayed on the staff with Martin once Huggins bolted for his alma mater, West Virginia, a year ago.
Beasley is now gone after one remarkable season in which he helped make Kansas State nationally relevant in college hoops, something that a public relations staff could never have delivered. He also led the Wildcats to the NCAA tournament's second round. And he will likely will be a top two pick in the NBA draft on June 26.
"A youngster like Michael Beasley is a once-in-a-lifetime [player]," said Krause, who took over for former AD Tim Weiser on April 4. "We have youngsters in the queue, and Dalonte and the entire staff is a big part of that. We're looking at a long-term investment."
"You can throw money at stuff but that's not the point," Krause added. "You're making an investment to keep the momentum going."
Krause said the reason he wanted to lock up Hill with a sweet financial deal and a five-year contract was to ensure Hill wouldn't leave. Krause said there have been major programs attempting to recruit Hill away. Krause said that he considered the salary to be market value for what Hill could command.
A year ago, Arizona gave Kevin O'Neill a $375,000 salary to return as assistant coach. He lasted one season, filing in for Lute Olson, who took a leave of absence in November. O'Neill left Arizona after the season and is now with the Memphis Grizzlies.
New Mexico made noise in Albuquerque when it gave Craig Neal a hefty assistant's salary, $250,000, to come with head coach Steve Alford from Iowa.
O'Neill and Neal had had stints in the NBA and came with considerably more experience than Hill.
A number of Big 12 assistants, from Kansas to Texas, said that Hill's annual salary, not including performance-based incentives, was double what they were making. It's a considerable amount more than what assistant coach Larry Shyatt is earning with the Gators, Shyatt said. Long-time Connecticut assistant George Blaney makes around $200,000 a year.
Krause said he didn't want to compare Hill's salary with any other schools.
"I think this is the right thing for us, and we made a decision that this was right for Kansas State," Krause said.
Krause's argument is that Kansas State's overall salary budget for its top coaches still only puts the Wildcats in the middle of the Big 12. Martin is making $760,000. Combine his salary with Hill's, and the two are making a combined $1,180,000. Alford ($999,000) and Neal make a combined $1,240,000. UNM is in the lower-profile Mountain West Conference, as compared to Kansas State in the Big 12.
"We knew we had to pay competitive salaries to compete at a high level," New Mexico athletic director Paul Krebs said. "It's one thing to pay the head coach an attractive competitive salary, but you have to make a strong commitment to the staff."
Krebs said he does see a trend brewing where the top assistants in football and men's basketball will make enough money that they won't seek other Division I coaching jobs.
And paying the men's assistant coach can create problems within an athletic department and a demand for more money from football coaches and even possibly women's basketball coaches.
"When I was at K-State, we were never in the position to say we had the highest paid anything," the former K-State administrator said. "That's not who K-State was."
Krause said there have been no issues about Hill's salary from any other program within Kansas State.
Hill's salary increase came five months after he was arrested on a DUI charge. That incident happened the night of Kansas State's historic win over Kansas at Bramlage Coliseum, the first win over the rival Jayhawks in 24 games in Manhattan. Hill was given a one-game punishment by Martin and Weiser, and he didn't coach the next game against Missouri.
"He has done a solid job for us and continues to do a solid job for us, and I'm confident in him," Krause said.
Krause likened the reaction to Hill's contract to when Alabama signed football coach Nick Saban to a $3.5 million deal. He said that kind of contract "sent ripples through the industry."
Martin hopes it does.
"I think it's tremendous," Martin said. "This shows the willingness of Kansas State to stand by an assistant coach they believe in. As an assistant, we have no security, absolutely none. We live check-to-check, year-to-year. Kansas State was willing to reward an assistant coach for doing a tremendous job."
Martin said Kansas State was the one school "brave enough to give an assistant coach a sense of security and home for a while." Martin said he was an assistant coach for eight years in Division I before he caught a break, becoming a head coach when Huggins left.
"Some guys are in the business for 25 years and never catch a break," Martin said. "Very rarely in life do people get rewarded. If [Hill] were only Michael Beasley's caretaker, then this wouldn't have happened. He's proven he's not. I applaud the administration."
Hill said he doesn't see any added pressure put on him with being one of the highest paid assistants in the country.
"The goals haven't changed," Hill said. "We want to advance further than the second round [of the NCAA]."
