Iowa State's T.J. Otzelberger is last on the Big 12 men's basketball salary scale
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Iowa State men’s basketball coach T.J. Otzelberger has proven to be among the upper echelon of successful coaches in the Big 12 Conference, but you wouldn't know it by looking at league coaches' salaries.
The second-season Cyclones coach, who surprised college basketball a season ago by reaching the Sweet 16, is last in the conference in annual salary, according to USA Today’s annual salary survey.
Otzelberger’s annual salary jumps to $2 million on July 1, which leaves him $100,000 behind Kansas State’s first-season coach Jerome Tang. Veteran Bill Self at Kansas tops the conference, at $5.9 a year, according to the USA Today study.
More:Five most underpaid men's college basketball coaches: Purdue, Iowa State have top bargains
Otzelberger, whose team faces Baylor at 11:30 a.m. Thursday in the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City, received a contract extension – to June 30, 2027 −in June 2022.
Otzelberger is the sixth-most tenured among the 10 Big 12 coaches.
In his first season replacing Steve Prohm, Otzelberger’s defensive-minded 2021-22 team had a 22-13 overall record, the school’s sixth Sweet 16 appearance, and a final No. 23 ranking by the coaches poll.
More:Five most overpaid men's college basketball coaches: Looking at you, Calipari and Hoiberg
The Cyclones’ 20-win improvement of the program’s 2-22 previous season record, trailed only Towson (+21), and Middle Tennessee (+21) on the all-time national charts.
“T.J. Otzelberger and his staff orchestrated arguably the greatest turnaround in college basketball history this past year, inheriting a two-win program and leading it to 22 victories and the Sweet 16 in their first season, and I’m grateful that we are able to reward that success with this extension,” athletics director Jamie Pollard said in a statement that announced the extension.
“I believe T.J. is building a championship culture within our program that fosters academic excellence, on-court success and accountability, and I believe that the momentum our program enjoys will lead to future success under his direction.”
Big 12 Conference coaching salaries
Bill Self, Kansas $5.9 million
Chris Beard (former Texas) $5.0
Bob Huggins, West Virginia $4.2 million
Scott Drew, Baylor $3.7 million
Jamie Dixon, TCU, $3.5 million
Mark Adams, Texas Tech $3.1 million
Mike Boynton, Oklahoma State $3.0 million
Porter Moser, Oklahoma $2.8 million
Jerome Tang, Kansas State, $2.1 million
T.J. Otzelberger, Iowa State $2.0 million
Source: USA Today database
Iowa State columnist Randy Peterson is in his 51st year writing sports for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at rpeterson@dmreg.com, and on Twitter @RandyPete
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Where does Iowa State coach TJ Otzelberger's salary rank in Big 12?
