Kevin Ollie Coaching Rumors: UConn Reportedly Takes Him Off the Market With New Five-Year Deal Worth $15 Million
ByThe UConn Huskies men's basketball team has secured coach Kevin Ollie a five-year contract extension that more than doubles his annual salary.
Unnamed sources told ESPN Monday Ollie will make nearly $3 million per year under his new contract after making $1.25 million this past season. This new contract follows a seven-month pact he received when he replaced Jim Calhoun and then a five-year deal for $7.5 million just three months later.
Ollie's new contract, worth about $15 million in total, will replace his old one once it is finalized. Once it is, Ollie would become the highest paid coach in the American Athletic Conference, which also houses Rick Pitino and his Louisville Cardinals.
The sources said UConn began talking about a contract extension after the Huskies beat Iowa State in the Sweet 16, but the two sides did not meet until the team was in the National Championship game. After Ollie led the seventh-seeded Huskies to a national title, he became a hot coaching commodity.
The Los Angeles Times reported the Los Angeles Lakers were pursuing Ollie, but the UConn coach maintained he would try to work out an extension with his alma mater first. The Lakers have the financial means to make a run at virtually anyone and are reportedly interested in Ollie's national title opponent, Kentucky's John Calipari.
A source originally told Yahoo Sports Ollie's extension was worth more than $3 million a year. The source also said the Cleveland Cavaliers were the most aggressive NBA suitor for Ollie and the Lakers did not actually formally contact Ollie. The UConn coach makes an attractive NBA head coach for his friendships with Kevin Durant and LeBron James, both of whom are going to be free agents soon.
Ollie will return to UConn without Shabazz Napier, DeAndre Daniels, Niels Giffey, Tyler Olander and a number of graduating seniors and early draft declarations. His only major returnee is guard Ryan Boatright, who acted as Napier's right hand man on the court last year. It will also be Ollie's first season without a majority of Calhoun-recruited players.