Karen Aston's contract NOT extended

[Txhoopsalot]

Trust me when I say not all Texas fans are realistic when it comes to throwing out names as possible coaching replacements; most don't even bother doing any research to realize several coaches are earning way north of $1 million per season.

To me, let's just rule out the head coaches from UConn, Baylor, Miss. State, South Carolina, Notre Dame, Maryland, and Louisville. Unless they have a connection (family or otherwise) to Texas, or hate their boss, they aren't leaving for the Texas job.

So, my mind keeps going West as the most attainable coaches (financially) reside out there.

With your first paragraph I can completely agree. It is the type of attitude that makes me wonder if I should look for another program to support. But, living in Austin with a UT graduate, well.. Besides having the general attitude that Texas can get whoever it wants by just offering enough money (money, particularly once reaching a comfortable standard, is not everyone's sole desire), fans do not do much research into the qualities of potential coaches. They just throw out the latest "flavor of the day."

 

[southofnorth]

For some reason, I actually like Karen, even though I really don't like Texas. I think she is pretty classy and will land on her feet pretty fast.

Kinda like Holly Warlick of Tennessee. Both likeable coaches as people, but didn’t keep the programs heading in the right direction so both got the axe.

 

[southie]

Kinda like Holly Warlick of Tennessee. Both likeable coaches as people, but didn’t keep the programs heading in the right direction so both got the axe.

Aston did not inherit the program Warlick did. Aston made Texas relevant again, and on the verge of becoming a consistent Top 10-15 program. Unfortunately, she couldn't maintain what she built.

 

[southofnorth]

Aston did not inherit the program Warlick did. Aston made Texas relevant again, and on the verge of becoming a consistent Top 10-15 program. Unfortunately, she couldn't maintain what she built.

I was comparing the coaches and their subsequent failures moreso than where the programs started when they took over. Also Texas wasn’t an obscurity when Aston took over. Look back and you’ll find that Texas had started the season ranked up until the 2011-2012 season (the season before Aston took over). Yes she brought them back into it, but they only had 1-2 seasons of actual prosperity.

 

[southie]

I was comparing the coaches and their subsequent failures moreso than where the programs started when they took over. Also Texas wasn’t an obscurity when Aston took over. Look back and you’ll find that Texas had started the season ranked up until the 2011-2012 season (the season before Aston took over). Yes she brought them back into it, but they only had 1-2 seasons of actual prosperity.

I guess. No doubt Karen had further to climb, and she did. And, she probably leaves the program in better shape than when she inherited it.

 

[Plebe]

Texas Longhorns football, basketball, baseball, sports news - Austin American-Statesman

The latest Texas Longhorns football, basketball, baseball, sports news & analysis

www.hookem.com

 

[TheFarmFan]

FWIW, this guy, whose predictions for recruit commitments tends to be very good, has both Barnes and Close among the coaches he'd target if he were the Texas AD:

 

[DeeHusky]

I think one of those coaches who have been NBA assistants will get the job..Becky Hammon, Niele Ivey, Kristi Toliver, Lindsey Harding, Lindsay Gottlieb etc...or at least I think those are the ones who will try

 

[nwhoopfan]

Lindsay Gottlieb

Surely you jest? If Aston didn't do a good enough job of developing/utilizing talent, Gottlieb is not an improvement.

 

[DeeHusky]

Surely you jest? If Aston didn't do a good enough job of developing/utilizing talent, Gottlieb is not an improvement.

I was just naming nba female assistants with no justification behind, but she did get to a final four..Aston didn’t..so yea

 

[southie]

I need to nail down the current salaries of the head coaches PAC 12 schools. While some coaches won't leave simply for a higher salary, there won't be many (if any) PAC 12 ADs who will bump their coaches up to the $1.25 million or so I believe Texas will pay its new head coach.

 

[TheFarmFan]

I need to nail down the current salaries of the head coaches PAC 12 schools. While some coaches won't leave simply for a higher salary, there won't be many (if any) PAC 12 ADs who will bump their coaches up to the $1.25 million or so I believe Texas will pay its new head coach.

I would be shocked, shocked if that happens in this economic climate. Although Texas's athletic department apparently doesn't rely on either student fees or state support, so it's in a better position than almost any other AD, its football team generates almost 75 percent of its revenue ($145m), and there's no guarantee there will be a football season this year, let alone one with fans. If there isn't, Texas's athletic department budget will be shot through. And it's almost certainly going to generate less in revenue from TV ($20m), and we know conference payouts will be at least half what they were last year from the NCAA. In that kind of climate, what AD thinks it's time to allocate almost 50% more for a head coaching position?

 

[nwhoopfan]

I was just naming nba female assistants with no justification behind, but she did get to a final four..Aston didn’t..so yea

She did get to a FF, but it went downhill for her after that. Looking at her record on wiki, first 4 years were really good, next 4 were fairly bad. Especially considering she had Anigwe and some decent players surrounding her.

 

[Checkmate 2.0]

I heard it was Brenda Frese's "dream school" *

*just like Minnesota and Maryland were

 

[southie]

I would be shocked, shocked if that happens in this economic climate. Although Texas's athletic department apparently doesn't rely on either student fees or state support, so it's in a better position than almost any other AD, its football team generates almost 75 percent of its revenue ($145m), and there's no guarantee there will be a football season this year, let alone one with fans. If there isn't, Texas's athletic department budget will be shot through. And it's almost certainly going to generate less in revenue from TV ($20m), and we know conference payouts will be at least half what they were last year from the NCAA. In that kind of climate, what AD thinks it's time to allocate almost 50% more for a head coaching position?

I honestly don't know what you're getting at. If there is lost revenue from unplayed football games in 2020, it affects ALL schools across the board (although not necessarily equally). Texas won't base the salary of its new women's head coach on what will or won't happen regarding football come August.

If Adia Barnes is earning $400k at Arizona (after being bumped up from $235k), and Aston was earning $850k at Texas, it makes sense that Texas knows it will have to pay more than what they were paying Aston if they want better results in the future. If Barnes is the target, she gets an offer close to $1 million from Texas, IMO.

Arizona is the school that would have trouble justifying doubling Barnes' salary in these tough economic times, especially after just having given her an almost 50% raise.

 

[TheFarmFan]

I honestly don't know what you're getting at.

Here's what I'm getting at: as I posted elsewhere:

This times 1000. Stanford has one of the largest university endowments in the world, and this was the email that the provost just sent out yesterday...

Tl;dr: Huge financial cuts ahead, salary freezes, pay cuts, faculty and staff hiring pause, and many capital projects will be "re-evaluated to determine whether or when they should proceed."

I truly don't think folks realize how screwed higher education is about to be. I can't see any universe where the Texas AD can responsibly extend a $1.2m contract for a WBB coach in this climate, let alone a large fraction of that.

Stanford has the fourth largest university endowment in the world at $26.5 billion - UT as a system is second with $30 billion. If Stanford is doing staff and faculty hiring freezes, I'd be shocked if UT wasn't too, especially since UT is reliant on the state for support, and every state budget in the country is about to bleed red, especially Texas, where revenue from black gold is going up in smoke. And if there isn't a football season, UT's AD budget is going to dry up by 3/4ths.

At a minimum, a 50% increase in salary for one coach is going to look really tone-deaf given all the other cuts that I'm almost certain will be coming to UT's AD, just like every other AD in the country.

Sorry to be Cassandra here, but folks need to face facts that the revenue system of college sports is going to undergo a massive, massive, overhaul in the next few years. No one is going to be looking to expand their financial commitments in the next twelve months.

 

[southie]

Sorry to be Cassandra here, but folks need to face facts that the revenue system of college sports is going to undergo a massive, massive, overhaul in the next few years. No one is going to be looking expand their financial commitments in the next twelve months.

So, you think the Texas AD has not already forecasted and budgeted for an increase in salary to be paid to the women's basketball coach over the next 12 months? Trust me -- him not extending Aston's contract is not a cost-savings move; it's a move that he knows will require more outgoing revenue, including those 3-4 months of overlapping salary where Aston has to be paid until end of August, and new head coach has to be paid starting in probably one month.

You seem to be looking way long term. I'm looking at now, and short-term. Texas knows it has to pay more than what it was paying Karen Aston and her staff if it wants better results on the court. Long-term, every school will be affected as it pertains to its athletic budget/revenue if this pandemic has lasting effects.

 

[TheFarmFan]

So, you think the Texas AD has not already forecasted and budgeted for an increase in salary to be paid to the women's basketball coach over the next 12 months?

Coaching contracts don't run 12 months. They run 3-6 years. And all those other 3-6 year budgeted plans that universities had as of two months ago have gone up in smoke. There is no reason to think that whatever the Texas athletic director thought they were able to set aside for the WBB coach will still be available now. And I wouldn't be surprised if the athletic director isn't already getting calls from main campus seeing if they can squeeze additional revenue from the AD back to the rest of the university. That money has to come from somewhere.

 

[southie]

Coaching contracts don't run 12 months. They run 3-6 years. And all those other 3-6 year budgeted plans that universities had as of two months ago have gone up in smoke. There is no reason to think that whatever the Texas athletic director thought they were able to set aside for the WBB coach will still be available now. And I wouldn't be surprised if the athletic director isn't already getting calls from main campus seeing if they can squeeze additional revenue from the AD back to the rest of the university. That money has to come from somewhere.

ETA: Just the reduction in oil revenues could cost Texas and Texas A&M $300 million in revenue next year. And that is totally unrelated to coronavirus and other likely hits to revenue.

Every school with a women's basketball program was going to pay salaries (over the next 3-6 years) regardless if they keep an existing coaching staff, or hire a new coaching staff. Luckily for Texas, we don't have to buyout Aston's contract because it only had 5 months remaining.

We might be arguing different things. I'm not worried about Texas having enough money for its new coaching staff.

 

[Wbbfan1]

Texas has been part of the Old Girls Network for a long time along with the Lady Vols and Stanford. Will they open their Head Coach job to include Males or should only Females apply? Probably they'll hire a Female, but I wonder who is High Profile enough to come in and immediately compete with Kim Mulkey at Baylor for recruits/transfers. That applies to whether they hire a male or female for the Head Coaching Position.

Karen was hired because she was an assistant coach at Texas and Baylor and was supposed to have enough contacts within AAU Circles to out recruit Baylor for elite Texas HS players. Karen like Holly Warlick had good enough won/loss record at most schools to retain her Job. However, not at Texas where they expect to be competing for National Championships. Just don't know who they'll hire to get the results they want.

I do wonder if Becky Hammon would be interested in the Texas job and would Texas consider Niele Ivey.

 

[southie]

Texas has been part of the Old Girls Network for a long time along with the Lady Vols and Stanford. Will they open their Head Coach job to include Males or should only Females apply? Probably they'll hire a Female, but I wonder who is High Profile enough to come in and immediately compete with Kim Mulkey at Baylor for recruits/transfers. That applies to whether they hire a male or female for the Head Coaching Position.

Karen was hired because she was an assistant coach at Texas and Baylor and was supposed to have enough contacts within AAU Circles to out recruit Baylor for elite Texas HS players. Karen like Holly Warlick had good enough won/loss record at most schools to retain her Job. However, not at Texas where they expect to be competing for National Championships. Just don't know who they'll hire to get the results they want.

Texas no longer has Chris Plonsky (female) running the women's athletic depatment. New AD, Chris Del Conte (male), and Plonksy's boss, is the one who made the decision/announcement that Aston would not be extended. Del Conte didn't hire Aston (Plonsky did); yet, we didn't hear a peep from Plonksy today. I don't expect the old Plonsky way of doing things to be a factor; Del Conte hired the best candidates for softball and T&F, and they both happened to be male. Hope he does the same for basketball, regardless of gender, ethnicity, religious beliefs, or sexual orientation.

 

[WestsideWaltz]

UCLA would really be unlucky to lose Close, for different reasons. Their clown of an AD, Guerrero, is retiring and there is still no replacement. He hired Close and is a big supporter. Because of him, UCLA ran a staggering 18.9 million dollar deficit in 2019, primarily related to the huge drop off in football and basketball attendance. That was directly related to coaching decisions made by him. With that kind of a deficit, how much would they really be willing to pay. Close has become unbelievably popular with the fans and supporters and has created a culture of safety within her own teams. Similar to gymnastics coach Miss Val. She has also upped attendance significantly. Although most tickets are probably freebies and make no dent into the program's lack of profitability, having more bodies in Pauley Pavilion is always a positive.

I don't think choosing a new head coach for women's basketball is the first thing Bruins fans want their new AD to be in charge of.

 

[WestsideWaltz]

I think a difference (slight) is that Close is unmarried and Barnes has a family with a husband who is on staff. Close has a very winning personality so I think she could fit, unlike say GG. Barnes' has a young son that is a priority so it remains to be seen if a move to Texas would be an issue.

Incidentally, if Close leaves, how about GG for UCLA? She coached for the Sparks so she lived in LA for a while.

 

[triaddukefan]

Brilliant idea. And then you could hire Aston! She's a phenomenal coach and Duke would be lucky to have her.

 

[southie]

Interesting article on what U of Arizona is considering regarding coaches' salaries:

Arizona Regents consider new bonus template for coaches' contracts

Under a new proposal, coaches would only receive their full base pay if a baseline GPA was maintained.

www.bluemountaineagle.com

The Arizona Board of Regents began considering a proposed policy revision for contracts of major sports coaches at Arizona to be structured with a stronger and two-tiered academic component.

The proposal was heard Thursday as part of the Regents' consent agenda, in which there was no public discussion, but it is expected to be brought up for a vote to implement it at a later Regent meeting.

The proposal calls for coaches' contracts to have a higher share of their base salaries be paid only when their teams meet a baseline grade-point average and a bonus only for meeting a higher GPA than usual.

The proposal also calls for schools to be able to “claw back” credit or incentives for games that are vacated or diminished because of NCAA infractions, while requiring more transparency about outside compensation and benefits.

The academic bonus structure came into the Regents' spotlight last June, when they delayed approving a new contract for UA women’s basketball coach Adia Barnes. Regent Lyndel Manson expressed concern at the time about the jump from Barnes’ previous salary of $235,000 to $400,000 and for an academic bonus that could reward Barnes for achieving a worse GPA than the team’s 3.19 mark in 2017-18.

But then-Regent Jay Heiler also told the Board that in some cases the contracts need to be agreed upon quickly so that in-demand coaches such as Barnes aren't hired away elsewhere.

That led to Heiler and Manson formulating the proposed contract template, which will be voted on at the Regents' next meeting in June or at a later meeting.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

I‘m not worried about Dawn leaving South Carolina. She‘s been gradually moving all her family to South Carolina and proclaimed just before this past season that she’ll be retiring at USC. She doesn’t have any interest in coaching pros too. More worried about schools of some levels considering Law or Chmiel.

not really worried about it

it's just one the few jobs I could see being tempting.

 

[DefenseBB]

Interesting take by a Texas fan source:





I mentioned this in the other thread, but I think all Texas fans appreciate how she always represented the university with such class.

Unfortunately, even when her recruiting was at an elite level, the product on the court eventually exposed her deficiencies in player development and in-game coaching.

I just noted the lack of development by ANY of her recruits in the Top HS Girls vs. WBCA thread. Karen had 8 Top 10 HoopGurlz who have finished at least 1 year and NONE have earned a WBCA spot.

Most egregious were Holmes and Atkins. Add in the last 3 years of transfers and poor offense and frankly, she got what she deserved. But hey, maybe Coach Jumper will swap in bright orange for burnt orange

 

[Gamecockfan77]

It wasn't about her W-L record. Anyone with a functioning eyeball could see that her program had topped out 2-3 years ago and that the trajectory since then was not good.

Not getting the distraction comment. Everyone is well aware of Shaka's situation, including the fact his buyout would cost UT over 10 million dollars. Declining to renew Aston at the end of her contract will not make anyone less aware.

Football and basketball struggling.

fires WBB coach who has sweet 16 in 4 of last 5 tournaments.

She couldn't beat Baylor.

going to throw money at someone now? Seems wasteful.

 

[DefenseBB]

I was just naming nba female assistants with no justification behind, but she did get to a final four..Aston didn’t..so yea

Yes, Gottlieb did get to a Final Four with Joanne Boyles recruits and team. Lindsay was an abject failure and just look what state she left the current Cal team in. Yee gads, do not judge a book by it's cover.

 

[southie]

So, Kelly Graves is only earning $700k a year at Oregon?

Greg Hansen: Adia Barnes is a keeper, which is why the Wildcats must make sure they keep her

Wildcats captured Tucson's attention with WNIT run. Here's how they can keep the momentum going.

tucson.com