Self signs new contract

By Case Keefer

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Rumors circulated at the end of last season that Oklahoma State would lure Kansas coach Bill Self away from Lawrence with a contract that guaranteed a hefty sum of money.

Turns out Kansas put together a lucrative contract of its own for Self. The coach who led the Jayhawks to a national championship signed a new 10-year contract with the University that will pay him $30 million.

The new deal nearly doubles Self’s annual salary as he made around $1.6 million under his previous contract. The new contract also offers incentives that enable Self to earn up to $425,000 in a single year.

“He’s done a tremendous job leading the Kansas men’s basketball team both on and off the court,” Athletics Director Lew Perkins said in a statement. “There’s no one I’d rather have at the helm of the Kansas program.”

And there’s no job Self would rather have. He proved that when he announced he would stay at Kansas in April and not interview for the coaching position at Oklahoma State, his alma-mater.

Perkins and Self announced that they had agreed on terms of a new contact four months ago. The details, however, were not released until Wednesday.

When the new contract expires in 2018, Self will be 55 years old. That’s the kind of security Self wanted in his new deal.

“I have said many times that I cannot imagine a better place to play, or to coach, than the University of Kansas,” Self said in a statement. “My family and I look forward to being a part of the Kansas and Lawrence communities for many years to come.”

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