With the Gophers winning their first NCAA Tournament game since 2013 this season, Richard Pitino agreed to a two-year contract extension through the 2023-24 season, the Minnesota Gophers announced Sunday.
The terms of the new agreement, subject to approval by the University of Minnesota's board of regents, states that the school's commitment to Pitino including this season is for $12.3 million over five years, averaging to $2.46 million annually. His previous base salary plus supplemental was about $2.2 million.
Pitino, 35, went 112-92 in six seasons at Minnesota, including 40-70 in the Big Ten, but he took the program to the NCAA Tournament in two of the last three seasons. The Gophers (22-14) fell to Michigan State in the second round after beating Louisville to open the NCAA tourney in Des Moines, Iowa.
"My family and I have loved living in the Twin Cities the last six years," Pitino said in a statement. "We have met so many wonderful, supportive people. It's an honor to be able to continue to lead this Gopher basketball program. I enjoy working with my athletics director, Mark Coyle, every day. I would like to thank Mark, President Kaler, and the University for continuing to believe in me. I look forward to continuing to move this special program forward."
As part of Pitino's last one-year extension signed in 2017, he was to receive a $450,000 incentive if he was still coaching at Minnesota on April 30, 2019. That was removed, but now he receives $100,000 on April 30, 2020 _ and starting in the spring of 2021, his incentive to remain increases by $100,000 a year on April 30 from $400,000 to $700,000 in 2024.
Under the new agreement, Pitino's buyout after next season is $2 million on April 30, 2020, but it lowers each year from $1.75 million in 2021, to $1.5 million in 2022, $1 million on April 30, 2023, and it becomes zero on or after May 1, 2023. If Pitino takes another job, his buyout would be $500,000 throughout the contract.
Two years ago, Pitino was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year after putting together the biggest turnaround in team history going from eight to 24 wins and reaching his first NCAA Tournament.
The son of Hall of Famer and former Louisville coach Rick Pitino spent a couple seasons on the hot seat and received heavy criticism from Gophers fans after going 8-22 in 2015-16 and 15-17 last season. Minnesota also threatened to miss the NCAA Tournament this season losing six of seven games, including four straight in February. Still, Pitino was able to rally his team to four wins in five games, including two Big Ten tournament games. The Gophers' biggest wins were against Purdue to help secure an at-large bid. Senior forward Jordan Murphy, who became the school's all-time rebounding leader, and junior guard Amir Coffey were named to the All-Big Ten teams.
In recruiting, Pitino landed four-star local prospects such as Coffey from Hopkins and Daniel Oturu from Cretin-Derham Hall. Oturu was part of a three-player Minnesota class in 2018 with Gabe Kalscheur from DeLaSalle and Jarvis Omersa from Orono.
Five-star Rochester John Marshall senior forward and McDonald's All-American Matthew Hurt, who has Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky and Kansas as his finalists, won't sign the Gophers when he makes his decision April 19. But Pitino signed four-star Wasatch Academy (Utah) guard Tre' Williams and received a commitment this week from three-star Northwest High (Texas) center Sam Freeman. The Gophers still have three scholarships remaining for next season.
Pitino had one season of experience at Florida International after replacing Tubby Smith, who was fired in his sixth season after winning an NCAA Tournament game in 2013. Coyle didn't hire Pitino, but he built a strong relationship with him over the last several years.
"I am excited for Coach Pitino to continue to lead our men's basketball program," Coyle said in a statement. "Coach Pitino has developed All-Big Ten players, led deep runs into the Big Ten tournament and earned the school's ninth-ever NCAA Tournament win this year. I look forward to him advancing the program further in the upcoming years."
