URI signs women's basketball coach Tammi Reiss to 10-year deal

SOUTH KINGSTOWN — Fresh off the hiring of Archie Miller as its new men’s basketball coach, the University of Rhode Island followed up with another historic commitment to its women’s coach on Tuesday.

Tammi Reiss has signed a new 10-year deal with the Rams through the 2031-32 season. The contract replaces a previous extension she signed barely 12 months ago after being named the Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year.

Reiss will be paid $4.4 million over the life of the deal, including a base salary of $425,000 over the first five years. That’s a raise of more than double the original pact she signed prior to the 2019-20 season — it called for a base salary of $180,000 annually. A deeper staff compensation pool, the creation of a new video coordinator position, a buyout starting at $1 million — those are just some of the enhancements negotiated by Reiss, school president Marc Parlange and athletic director Thorr Bjorn.

“They made me feel like this is my home,” Reiss said in an afternoon press conference at the Ryan Center. “They made me feel wanted. They made us feel relevant — my team. And you don’t find that very often.

“For me, it was an easy decision in the end. I have to say thank you.”

Previous: No, Virginia, there is no Tammi Reiss — URI coach has 'unfinished business' in Kingston

WNIT opener: Quinnipiac women end URI's season

More: URI should do whatever necessary to keep women's hoops coach Tammi Reiss in Kingston

The Rams have been discussing an extension with Reiss over the better part of the last two months. She’s off to a 46-31 start through three seasons, including a 29-16 record in league play. URI has enjoyed consecutive finishes inside the conference’s top four, and no coach has posted a winning percentage higher than her .597 in program history.

“The most important thing to the president and I was making sure Tammi knew we really wanted her,” Bjorn said. “We’re willing to commit to that. And I know she knows that.

“What she’s done here is unprecedented in her first three years. And we think it’s just the beginning.”

The program received votes in both major national polls for the first time this season, finishing 22-7 and qualifying for its first Women’s NIT. The Rams set a school record thanks to a 13-game winning streak and drew 2,415 fans for a February home matchup with Dayton. That marked a facility-best for attendance at a women’s basketball game. URI’s two losses against the Flyers were the only ones it suffered against a league opponent.

“There’s nothing better than coming to work here,” Reiss said. “Laughing, smiling, joking — even going out with the donors. Some of my really close donors, we can go out and have a drink. We can go New York — I can swear. I can be me.

“You don’t find that fit with certain people. This just fits me like a glove.”

Reiss will trigger corresponding one-year extensions should she win 20 or more games in any of the first five seasons of the new deal — the full contract length can’t extend past the 2036-37 campaign. Her staff salary pool for three assistant coaches is now $360,825 — that's up $90,000 from two years ago. Reiss will also be able to pay a base salary of $61,250 for a director of basketball operations and a base of $40,000 to a video coordinator — that was formerly a graduate assistant position.

The Rams agreed to invest an additional $225,000 on charter flights and expect to have a basketball-specific practice facility completed by the start of the 2023-24 academic year. Those improvements and this extended contract term should allow Reiss to make a firmer pitch to potential recruits. URI has largely been involved with transfers and international students to this point, with associate head coach Adeniyi Amadou making the most of his connections in his native France.

“It was really nice to be able to finally lay to bed every rumor that’s out there,” Reiss said. “Other schools used it against us — ‘She’s not going to be there very long. She’s not. How are you verballing to them?’

“We battled it all last summer with some bluebloods trying to get players, and now it’s done. Now we know any player we’re talking to, we’re going — I’m going to be here.”

The primary benefit for the Rams — aside from on-court performance, of course — comes through a renegotiated buyout provision. Reiss will owe $100,000 for each existing year on the contract should she be hired away by another program. Her previous total figure was just $250,000, a minor inconvenience for athletic departments with buckets of football cash like Virginia or Syracuse.

“There may be a fit out there that makes sense for someone like her,” Bjorn said. “That may happen someday. But at the end of the day, what we’ve been trying to do is be incredibly proactive.”

Reiss said she was almost certain to stay with URI following a season-ending 61-50 loss to Quinnipiac on March 18. The Orange hired former guard Felisha Legette-Jackaway from Buffalo — Reiss served as an assistant at Syracuse prior to her URI tenure. The Cavaliers hired Amaka Agugua-Hamilton away from Missouri State, closing the door on what became an increasingly slim chance of Reiss returning to a place where she was a three-time All-American.

“I’m going to interview at my alma mater,” Reiss said. “It doesn’t mean I’m going to take it, but I will interview. In the end I can sit down and tell kids, ‘I’m not going anywhere. I can promise you that. We have a long-term deal.’

“It’s nice to do in recruiting because people will use it against you every day. They can’t use that as a weapon anymore.”

All six Rams coaches who preceded Reiss finished under .500 and posted a combined record of 312-664. URI went 13-16 in her debut season and started 0-4 in 2020-21 before capturing eight of its next nine games. It was at that point that Reiss sensed she might be able to build something lasting.

“It wasn’t really the salary that I was looking at,” Reiss said. “I wanted a long-term commitment from them and I wanted the resources. Our program wanted the resources.

“That’s what they came with — a commitment to winning. Giving you everything you need to go out and do your job. Giving your student-athletes everything they need to succeed.”

bkoch@providencejournal.com

On Twitter: @BillKoch25

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Rhode Island basketball women's coach Tammi Reiss signs news contract