Contracts provide insight into how Kentucky mid-majors retain college basketball coaches

Across the scope of Division I men’s college basketball in Kentucky, there is plenty of elite coaching talent.

Beyond the power-conference programs at Kentucky and Louisville, several coaches have proven their worth at some of the commonwealth’s smaller schools.

At Eastern Kentucky, the energetic A.W. Hamilton and the Colonels are fresh off an appearance in the championship game of the College Basketball Invitational.

Darrin Horn, the head men’s basketball coach at Northern Kentucky, has piloted the Norse to two Horizon League Tournament championships in four seasons, and NKU nearly upset a No. 1 seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament.

Preston Spradlin has led the Morehead State program to at least 22 wins in each of the last three seasons.

All three men are accomplished coaches at the Division I level, and have undoubtedly been courted by other programs with bigger budgets and national profiles.

Yet, all three remain right here in the commonwealth, ready to lead their respective teams into the 2023-24 season.

The Herald-Leader obtained the contracts of Hamilton, Horn and Spradlin via the Kentucky Open Records Act, and found examples in each deal of how Eastern Kentucky, Northern Kentucky and Morehead State are trying to retain these coaches.

A.W. Hamilton is highest-paid coach at Eastern Kentucky

Hamilton is paid $350,000 per year to coach the Colonels, which makes him the highest-paid head coach in Richmond.

This figure includes a $25,000 retention bonus Hamilton receives each year he is still the head coach at EKU on Aug. 1.

For comparison, EKU football head coach Walt Wells is paid $325,000 annually, and that figure also includes a $25,000 retention bonus Wells receives each year he is still the head coach of the Colonels on July 1.

“Something I try to do with all of our head coaches is have it be a true partnership,” EKU athletics director Matt Roan told the Herald-Leader.

“I feel like my job, our administration’s job, our staff’s job is to advocate — whether it’s internally or externally — for the tools and the resources that our coaches need in order to be successful. Certainly, we hear loud and clear the things that they articulate to us that they do need and that they do want to help them have the type of program that we all expect them and want them to have.”

The factors that go into a contract negotiation between an athletics director and a head coach are wide-ranging.

Roan mentioned items such as assistant coach pay and the budget used on the student-athlete experience as things that are discussed.

Something that also factors into the equation?

What other schools comparable to Eastern Kentucky — which for men’s basketball is both nationally and within the ASUN Conference — are providing to their programs.

“I can share with (Hamilton), ‘Hey, this is what X school is spending on recruiting. This is what X school is spending on nutrition. Together, here’s where I think we need to be,’” Roan said.

“A lot of that I leave up to him. He’s got priorities. If nutrition is most important, if the way that we travel is more important, those are decisions that he has to make.”

Hamilton’s contract at EKU — which was reworked in May after he led the Colonels to a 23-win season, the third-most in one season in school history — runs through April 2027 and features plenty of attainable incentives.

A 20-win regular season would give Hamilton $10,000.

If the Colonels were to win the regular season ASUN Conference championship, $30,000 would hit Hamilton’s pockets.

And just for making the NCAA Tournament itself — something EKU hasn’t done under Hamilton and hasn’t done at all since 2014 — Hamilton would receive $50,000.

“I will say as a general principle, first and foremost, that we try to incentivize performance,” Roan said. “There’s base compensation, there’s incentive compensation as well. We want to reward coaches for having success.”

There’s also plenty of expectation that this will be the year Hamilton and EKU return to the NCAA Tournament stage.

Several preseason college basketball projections — including from The Almanac, ESPN and Lindy’s Sports — have picked EKU to win the ASUN Conference.

The Colonels were also picked to win the ASUN in the league’s preseason coaches’ and media poll.

The Colonels are returning four starters and 11 players total from last season’s team, representing 88% of its assists, 84% of its scoring, 76% of its blocks, 74% of its rebounds and 74% of its steals from a season ago.

And irrespective of EKU’s expected on-court product this season, there’s something Roan describes as a “wild card” factor with Hamilton.

This is home for him. Hamilton is a Georgetown native who was a prep basketball star at Scott County High School.

“This Central Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky region is home to him and I think that matters,” Roan said. “Pouring himself into the program, giving it everything that he has and living and eating and breathing basketball and this program as much as he does. It makes it a lot easier when you’re around family and you’re around people that care about your success.”

Northern Kentucky provides promises to Darrin Horn

Of all the mid-major men’s basketball coaches in the commonwealth, Horn boasts the most impressive résumé.

The Kentucky native had a decorated playing career at Tates Creek High School and Western Kentucky University, but his time as a coach has been just as impressive.

Stints as an assistant coach at WKU, Morehead State and Marquette were parlayed into head coaching gigs at both WKU and South Carolina.

While he only made one NIT appearance in four seasons at South Carolina, NKU has proved to be a fruitful return to head coaching for Horn since he was hired in spring 2019 in Highland Heights.

Excluding the COVID-impacted 2020-21 season, Horn’s other three NKU teams have all won at least 20 games.

The 2019-20 team won the Horizon League Tournament but couldn’t play in the NCAA Tournament because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021-22 team lost by one point in the closing seconds of the Horizon League Tournament title game.

Finally, the 2022-23 edition of the Norse both won the Horizon League Tournament and got the chance to play in March Madness, where NKU pushed No. 1 seed Houston all the way in an 11-point loss.

Given his track record of experience and immediate success at NKU, Horn’s contract reflects a coach that’s in demand.

Horn — whose son Walker is a sophomore walk-on at UK — will be paid $544,000 to coach the Norse during the 2023-24 season, and that annual salary will increase by $10,000 each year through the end of his current contract in June 2027.

“Coach Horn has done a tremendous job leading our men’s basketball program and we want him to continue to do so for many years to come,” Christina Roybal, NKU’s vice president and director of athletics, said when an extension was announced in late March. “He and his staff have lifted the program back to national prominence and the exposure the men’s basketball program brings is not only important for our department, but also for the university and the entire region.”

Horn’s contract also includes an automatic one-year extension through June 2028 if Northern Kentucky finishes in the top half of the Horizon League this season, something that seems likely: The Almanac picked NKU as the winner of the Horizon League.

Additionally, some of the cumulative bonuses on the table for Horn include $10,000 for a Horizon League regular season title (including a tie for first) and $20,000 for winning the Horizon League Tournament and automatically qualifying for the NCAA Tournament.

One of the most distinct elements found in Horn’s contract relates to the resources promised to him by Northern Kentucky, starting with this season:

▪ A director of basketball operations position on his staff that would pay at least $40,000.

▪ A video coordinator position on his staff that would pay at least $40,000.

▪ The ability to travel via a chartered plane for one conference regular season road trip.

Morehead State emphasizes NCAA Tournament with Preston Spradlin

In recent years, no men’s college basketball program in the commonwealth has been as consistent as Morehead State.

Led by Preston Spradlin since December 2016, the Eagles have strung together three straight seasons of at least 22 wins, a significant achievement for the Ohio Valley Conference school.

Auburn forward Johni Broome and South Carolina guard Ta’Lon Cooper both began their college careers as star players at Morehead State, and Spradlin has done a sterling job at producing year after year in Morehead.

While Morehead State was only able to turn this recent run of success into an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2021, the Eagles qualified for the NIT last season for the first time. Morehead State won its first-round game at Clemson.

Spradlin is paid $260,000 annually by Morehead State as part of his contract, which was reworked earlier this year and runs through June 2027.

The contract calls for a meeting to take place between Spradlin and Morehead State officials around April 2024 to decide if his contract should be extended for another year.

That $260,000 annual figure includes two separate retention bonuses of $15,000 each that are paid to Spradlin for remaining the Eagles’ head coach each April 1 and Aug. 1. That figure also includes $20,000 that Spradlin receives each year for his participation in Morehead State’s media rights agreements.

There’s also an easy way for Spradlin to make an extra $10,000 each year: He is to receive that amount for “up to five appearances to represent the university in promotional events as coordinated by the president.”

Spradlin would be paid $30,000 — equivalent to a more than 11% bonus compared to his annual pay — if Morehead State participates in the NCAA Tournament.