Sean Miller offered five-year contract extension following Byrne’s departure

Arizona’s interim Athletic Director Erica Barnes made her first big move, putting a huge red and blue feather in her cap, as she ensured Arizona Basketball Head Coach Sean Miller would be sticking around Tucson.

Arizona’s former Athletic Director Greg Byrne departs, forfeiting stock options now available for distribution and who better to get them than the coach who is bringing in a ton of revenue to the Athletic Department, Sean Miller. The 48-year-old basketball coach was offered a five-year contract extension by the Arizona Board of Regents to the year 2022. Take that ASU!

Miller’s current contract went through the end of the 2017-18 season, which is kind of scary especially because as it looks now, he may have a Final Four team on his hands. It’s a very good time to extend because the school just lost the Athletic Director who may have helped keep Miller from potentially leaving for Maryland in 2011, and his contract only having a year to go. Miller stands to make at least $2.9 million a year.

Anne Ryman of The Republic lays out the new contract as follows:

Here’s how his compensation breaks down:

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• His base salary of $1.5 million will increase by $100,000 annually, from July 2018 through July 2020.
• He earns another $700,000 a year in related compensation for radio and television and speaking engagements.
• He has endorsement deals worth $400,000 a year with Nike and IMG, a sports, entertainment, and media company.
• Miller can earn bonuses if the team wins a certain number of games and the players have a certain cumulative GPA. For the 2015-16 season, he earned $20,000 for the team winning at least 20 regular season games and another $25,000 for the team’s academic performance.
• Miller is eligible for a retention bonus through a Longevity Fund set up in 2014 through a private, anonymous donor. He is eligible for 175,000 units in the investment fund if he stays through May 2020. On Thursday, the Regents signed off on Miller receiving another 50,000 units of the fund if he stays through May 2022.

The Regents were able to give Miller additional Units for a retention bonus, because Greg Byrne forfeited his. According to Ryan Finley of Tucson.com:

"The 50,000 units that are part of the extension were being held in a trust for athletic director Greg Byrne. Byrne forfeited his rights to 100,000 units by leaving earlier this month for Alabama.Those units [the 50,000] can be cashed out on May 31, 2022. Miller is already vested in 116,000 units of a publicly-traded master limited partnership, a gift from the donor, and will vest in another 58,000 units on May 31. He can cash out on the 175,000 units starting in 2020.Per ABOR rules, contracts can be no longer than five years in length."

Those units can be cashed out on May 31, 2022. Miller is already vested in 116,000 units of a publicly-traded master limited partnership, a gift from the donor, and will vest in another 58,000 units on May 31. He can cash out on the 175,000 units starting in 2020.

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With a 17-point win (71-54) in Corvallis over the Beavers, Sean Miller’ No. 5 Arizona Wildcats are now 21-2 overall and 10-0 in the Pac-12 for the first time since 1997-98. Can you feel the Final Four? What about the National Championship? After all, the freshman promised us they would get there, and we are starting to believe them. Now, if they could just have a great first and second half on defense, the rest will happen naturally. Bear Down Coach Miller! Bear Down Arizona!