UT Finalizes Contract With Basketball Coach Shaka Smart

The University of Texas System Board of Regents approved a contract for new University of Texas at Austin basketball coach Shaka Smart on Thursday, agreeing to pay him at least $21.7 million over the next seven years. 

The terms of the contract had long been agreed upon, but formal approval is required by the board. The deal was on the regents’ consent agenda during their regular May meeting, so it was approved without discussion.

In his first year, Smart will earn $2.8 million. That salary will increase by $100,000 each year until the terms of his contract run out in 2022. The final year, in which he'd be paid $3.4 million, is not guaranteed. 

Smart will receive an automobile allowance of $7,500 or an “option of two dealer cars.” He’ll also get “reasonable moving expenses and temporary housing,” plus social club memberships at the University of Texas Club and the University of Texas Golf Club.

Smart will have the option to earn money from sports camps and clinics, but the details of those have not yet been determined. And Smart can earn up to $550,000 worth of team performance incentives each year. Those incentives weren’t detailed in the Board of Regents agenda, but they are typically awarded for things like winning the Big 12 conference or advancing in the NCAA’s postseason tournament.

He’d also receive a $50,000 bonus for winning a national coach of the year award.

The Longhorns hired smart in early April from Virginia Commonwealth University. Regents also noted that they will pay his old school an “assignment fee” of $500,000. UT will also agree to play VCU in basketball twice in the next two years – one game in Austin and one game in Virginia. 

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