BOT approves four-year extension for Frank Martin

Frank Martin should be staying in Columbia for the foreseeable future after the University of South Carolina Board of Trustees approved a four-year contract extension Friday.

Martin’s contract, which was set to expire in March 2018, will now run through March 31, 2022 with $15.45 million guaranteed.

His guaranteed pay increases from $2.1 million in the upcoming year to $2.45 million. His guaranteed pay will increase annually by $50,00 over the next six years.

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He is slotted to receive $2.7 million guaranteed in the final year of his contract.

According to the contract, Martin’s annual base salary increases from $306,000 to $350,000. While his supplemental pay does not change (Martin is making $200,000 aside from his annual pay), his outside pay will increase $300,000.

The outside compensation, which is paid by rights holders for the athletics department, will increase from $1.6 million to $1.9 million in 2016-2017. Then, the amount will increase annually by $50,000.

If Martin and the Gamecocks make the NCAA Tournament in March, this outside compensation will also increase by another $50,000.

For example, if the team makes the tournament in 2017, then Martin’s outside pay would increase from the slotted $1.95 million to $2 million for the 2017-2018 year.

This extension comes after a season where the Gamecocks tied school records for wins (24) and conference wins (11) and started 15-0, which is the school’s best start since 1933.

“While we’re sitting her today, we did not make March Madness, we were in a position to be in March Madness. That is tremendous progress in this program,” Athletic Director Ray Tanner said. “There are so many positives. This program is in a position of strength right now and we’re delighted he’ll be our coach.”

Martin’s increased salary moves him into the top echelon of SEC coaches. His $2.4 million puts him fourth in the SEC behind Auburn’s Bruce Pearl ($2.75 million/year), Alabama’s Avery Johnson ($2.8 million/year) and Kentucky’s John Calipari ($7 million/year).

“I feel that’s where he should be. We’re the University of South Carolina in the Southeastern Conference and we have expectations. And we should certainly compensate our coaches accordingly.”

Martin’s program has seen steady growth in four seasons, increasing win totals every year and making it to the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) this season.

When he arrived on campus, the Gamecocks were in the midst of three straight losing seasons and hadn’t made a postseason tournament since 2009.

While Martin finished his first two seasons with losing records, he is 42-25 in his last two seasons and went 17-19 in conference during that stretch.

“We go into every year now with the expectations that we could be an NCAA team,” Tanner said. “That has not always been the case.”

With Martin reportedly garnering interest from schools with head coaching vacancies, this contract extension locks him up for the next six years. Tanner said, however, he never got the impression Martin was considering leaving.

But, now he can’t without paying. Martin’s buyout on his contract starts at $4.8 million this year and decreases annually. In the second year of his deal it’s $3.5 million then dimishies to $1.5 million in year three, $1 million in four and $500,000 in years five and six.

In his old deal, if the contract was voided prematurely without cause, the university was required to pay him 66 percent of his guaranteed salary for the remaining years of the deal. Now, with the extension, South Carolina must pay him 100 percent of the guaranteed money remaining on his deal.

Tanner said no contract extensions happened after the 2014-2015 season because he wanted to see if the program would continue its upward trends.

It did, and the extension was inked 11 days after the season ended.

“From my standpoint, I wanted to continue to see the trend,” Tanner said. “We make some positive moves in a lot of different areas and we continue to do that and this year was even more special. It was certainly an opportunity to do last year to consider it, but we got it done now.”

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