Tony Bennett Contract Info

[Dish]

July of last year, Bennett signed a 7 year deal that will pay him $800,000 per season.

His buyout started at $500,000, but...drops by $50,000 every year thereafter.

MU can just about double his salary, and even if Crean's buyout was low, it'd be a wash in regards to Bennett's.

Don't know if anyone else saw this, but Seth Davis likes Bennett for the MU gig.

• I'm also not convinced that Tony Bennett is 100 percent committed to remaining at Washington State. He did turn down Indiana, but that was more out of a disdain for the fishbowl life of coaching at IU than a desire to stay in Pullman for the rest of his life. His wife is from Louisiana, so it's natural he'd be targeted by LSU. But now there's another fit for him: Marquette. Remember, he played at Wisconsin-Green Bay and coached under his father Dick at Wisconsin.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/seth_davis/04/02/indiana.crean/1.html

[Daniel]

Well, money-wise this is good news.  We can certainly up his standard of living in a big way quickly.  I don't know much about him - I hope that we hire the best coach around  that can be hired....we need expertise in recruiting and floor coaching.  We need top-notch talent

[NavinRJohnson]

This makes as much sense as Crean to Indiana does. It is a complete no-brainer. Even though he would take the job for the money, he would have the ability to say all the right things...it gives me a chance to come home, the tradition he grew up with, the style of play here that is consistent with my style - defensive toughness, a history of great point guards, etc. It is just a bit too obvious.

[muarmy81]

Bennett stated he's not interested in leaving W. State.  I think the entire MU fan base needs to realize that we're probably not going to be able to bring in a Bob Knight to run the program. 

Have you noticed that beyond Seth Davis the only website mentioning some of these bigger names is this website?!  Let's start tempering our expectations and hope for the best...

[NavinRJohnson]

Bennett stated he's not interested in leaving W. State.  I think the entire MU fan base needs to realize that we're probably not going to be able to bring in a Bob Knight to run the program. 

Have you noticed that beyond Seth Davis the only website mentioning some of these bigger names is this website?!  Let's start tempering our expectations and hope for the best...

Tony Bennet is Bob Knight? When did this happen? I could swear he's been at Wazzu a couple years. What are you talking about? What exactly is a big name in your basketball world?

[Dish]

I understand coach-speak, any time a coach says "I'm not interested in a job/leaving my school/I'm happy here", it's code for, "Whatever you have to say, I'm more than willing to listen".

Bennett would be insane not to at least listen to MU. If for nothing else to improve his own paper in Pullman.

[muarmy81]

Bennett stated he's not interested in leaving W. State.  I think the entire MU fan base needs to realize that we're probably not going to be able to bring in a Bob Knight to run the program. 

Have you noticed that beyond Seth Davis the only website mentioning some of these bigger names is this website?!  Let's start tempering our expectations and hope for the best...

Tony Bennet is Bob Knight? When did this happen? I could swear he's been at Wazzu a couple years. What are you talking about? What exactly is a big name in your basketball world?

I guess that was a bad example, I was merely trying to bring up the fact that all the "sexy" names being thrown around for other coaching vacancies (ie OK State) aren't being thrown around for the MU vacancy...

[mosarsour]

Bennett stated he's not interested in leaving W. State.....

And Tom Crean was not interested in leaving Marquette. Wake up. It's a no brainer. We've got the $$ to double his salary (not saying he deserves $1.6M, but did Crean?). He's gonna listen to we've got to offer him.

[muarmy81]

Bennett stated he's not interested in leaving W. State.....

And Tom Crean was not interested in leaving Marquette. Wake up. It's a no brainer. We've got the $$ to double his salary (not saying he deserves $1.6M, but did Crean?). He's listen to we've got to offer him.

Right, I know coach's state that comment alot but the whole money thing?  Do you think any BCS conference school with D1 Football in their Athletic Department isn't capable of matching any offer MU makes?  Look at Billy Donovan last year...Kentucky comes sniffing for him and Florida doubles his salary.  With the success Wazzou has had these last few years I don't think they're going to let $800k stand in the way of keeping their coach...

[Dish]

It's funny then that his buyout is $500,000 and goes down by $50,000 every year after.

Why would a BCS school, with money flowing freely apparently, have his buyout be so low? Even after this raise he got last year, he's still one of the lowest paid coaches in the Pac 10. I believe Jay John (before he got canned) was making less.

[NavinRJohnson]

Bennett stated he's not interested in leaving W. State.....

And Tom Crean was not interested in leaving Marquette. Wake up. It's a no brainer. We've got the $$ to double his salary (not saying he deserves $1.6M, but did Crean?). He's listen to we've got to offer him.

Right, I know coach's state that comment alot but the whole money thing?  Do you think any BCS conference school with D1 Football in their Athletic Department isn't capable of matching any offer MU makes?  Look at Billy Donovan last year...Kentucky comes sniffing for him and Florida doubles his salary.  With the success Wazzou has had these last few years I don't think they're going to let $800k stand in the way of keeping their coach...

Actually, the problem those schools have is that with the exception of a few places like Kentucky, UNC, or Indiana, they have to pay their football coaches first. Football is waaaaayyyyy more important than basketball. If a football school goes and pays a basketball coach $2million, now they are going to have to go pay the football coach $3 million. Billy Donovan is as bad an example as Bob Knight was. Washington State is not Florida. Not even close. Unless MU is competing with a Florida, or Ohio State, USC, or some other cream of the crop football school, they could actually be in a advantagous position from a coach's compensation perspective.

[79Warrior]

Bennett stated he's not interested in leaving W. State.....

And Tom Crean was not interested in leaving Marquette. Wake up. It's a no brainer. We've got the $$ to double his salary (not saying he deserves $1.6M, but did Crean?). He's gonna listen to we've got to offer him.

Bennett will not come to MU. He turned down IU, which certainly was going to substantially increase his salary. So, the money may not be the motivator for him. He may just like Pulman.

[CTWarrior]

Bennett will not come to MU. He turned down IU, which certainly was going to substantially increase his salary. So, the money may not be the motivator for him. He may just like Pulman.

First off, we don't know for sure he turned down Indiana.  He may have seen the writing on the wall bringing him in to talk was just for show and then said no thanks.

Second, he does have roots in Wisconsin and that, coupled with the fact that Marquette is not in the current mess Indiana is in nor does it have the same pressure, may make MU a more desirable job than IU to him.

That said, while I'm sure he's a quality guy and all and he'd be a great hire, its not much fun watching 55-48 basketball games, even if you're winning more than your fair share of them. 

One thing about Crean's teams (excluding 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 seasons) was that they generally played an exciting brand of basketball.

[NavinRJohnson]

That said, while I'm sure he's a quality guy and all and he'd be a great hire, its not much fun watching 55-48 basketball games, even if you're winning more than your fair share of them. 

I was thinking about this as welll...what would teh score be when we played Pittsburgh or Wisconsin?
32-28?

[sailwi]

I think Bennett would be a quality hire and I don't know if Bennett is a slow down guy or he fit his personal to that style to give him the best chance of success.  At least initially it would be a disaster to have the current team slow it down since they are not the best outside shooting team nor dominate in the post.  Agree teh recent style is more enjoyabale to watch but I enjoy winning even more no matter waht the style. 

[mosarsour]

I think Bennett would be a quality hire and I don't know if Bennett is a slow down guy or he fit his personal to that style to give him the best chance of success.  At least initially it would be a disaster to have the current team slow it down since they are not the best outside shooting team nor dominate in the post.  Agree teh recent style is more enjoyabale to watch but I enjoy winning even more no matter waht the style. 

Well said. Nothing's more important than winning.

[CTWarrior]

I think Bennett would be a quality hire and I don't know if Bennett is a slow down guy or he fit his personal to that style to give him the best chance of success. 

I am assuming that he is a disciple of his father in terms of style, and his father was the king of the half court slow down type game.

[mwbauer7]

Can someone get Mark Few's contract info?

[Pakuni]

Bennett will not come to MU. He turned down IU, which certainly was going to substantially increase his salary. So, the money may not be the motivator for him. He may just like Pulman.

Bennett may have had personal reasons other than a supposed love for Pullman that kept him from Indiana. His would-be boss at IU, Rick Greenspan, is the same Rick Greenspan who shoved Tony's sister out the door a few years back when she was Indiana's head women's coach.

It's quite possible there's no love lost between Indiana, or at least Indiana's AD, and the Bennett family.

[Wareagle]

I think Bennett would be a quality hire and I don't know if Bennett is a slow down guy or he fit his personal to that style to give him the best chance of success. 

I am assuming that he is a disciple of his father in terms of style, and his father was the king of the half court slow down type game.

Washington State plays at a slower pace than Wisconsin per Ken Pom.  I don't think there's a chance he comes here.  If he did, he'd could possibly/probably lose the majority of the recruiting class for next year.

[TJ]

It's funny then that his buyout is $500,000 and goes down by $50,000 every year after.

Why would a BCS school, with money flowing freely apparently, have his buyout be so low? Even after this raise he got last year, he's still one of the lowest paid coaches in the Pac 10. I believe Jay John (before he got canned) was making less.

Why would he sign it then?  You gotta give the coach something.  The coach wants a higher salary and a lower buyout, among other things.  The school wants the reverse of that.  Maybe the school conceded some in the buyout for a lower salary.