March success means more money for UNC's Davis, NC State's Keatts
Posted March 22, 2024 3:58 p.m. EDT
Updated March 22, 2024 4:11 p.m. EDT
Hubert Davis and Kevin Keatts entered the season with some questions about their status at North Carolina and NC State, respectively.
But their success – sustained throughout the season for Davis, stunning and late for Keatts – has not only erased any doubts, but earned each additional pay.
Davis earned a $50,000 bonus for leading the Tar Heels to the ACC regular-season championship, which may not be recognized by the league but is outlined in his contract. He also earned a $25,000 bonus for being named ACC Coach of the Year by the league.
Davis, a former UNC player and assistant coach in his third season as head coach, earned a $100,000 bonus for reaching the NCAA Tournament and another $100,000 when his top-seeded Tar Heels defeated Wagner to advance to the round of 32.
Davis' contract includes bonuses for reaching the Sweet 16 ($75,00), the Elite Eight ($200,000), the Final Four ($200,000) and winning the national title ($250,000).
His contract also includes bonuses for winning the ACC Tournament, winning national coach of the year honors and for attaining certain academic progress rates.
The bonuses are cumulative but Davis cannot earn more than $1.075 million in performance bonuses in a single year. So far, he has earned $275,000 in bonuses, on top of his current $2.6-million salary. Davis' deal, signed in 2022, will pay him $2.8 million next season. The contract runs through June 30, 2028.
Davis guided UNC to the national title game in 2022 using a six-week run at the end of the year to eliminate any memories of bubble status in February. In 2023, the Tar Heels became the first preseason No. 1 team to miss the NCAA Tournament.
His job was never in doubt but the Tar Heels are not accustomed to spending as much time on the bubble as they had in recent years. But Davis, steeped in the program's history with former coaches Dean Smith, Bill Guthridge and Roy Williams, held to his vision for the program.
"Even through the press conference when I first accepted a job, I set the foundation of this program, I'm not veering from that," he said Friday ahead of the Tar Heels' second-round game vs. Michigan State. "I've said that, along that path, along that foundation, it's important for me to walk that path, but to do it with my personality in my own shoes. That's what I've tried to do in the last three years."
Kevin Keatts
Keatts' coaching seat was much hotter. NC State was the No. 10 seed in the ACC Tournament and there was much more conversation about Keatts' job status than a run in the tournament.
But the Wolfpack won five games in five days, beating the tournament's top three seeds including No. 1 North Carolina, to claim their first ACC Tournament title since 1987 – and an NCAA Tournament berth.
NC State, an 11 seed, continued its run by beating No. 6 Texas Tech in Thursday's first round for its first NCAA Tournament victory in Keatts' seven seasons.The Wolfpack plays No. 14 seed Oakland on Saturday for a spot in the Sweet 16.
"I don't think our guys listen to what other people thought," Keatts said this week. "And we kind of kept it in our locker room. And chip on their shoulder, possibly. But I don't think it's because people didn't think we could make it here. Like, it never crossed our mind in the locker room."
Keatts, who was under contract through 2028, earned a two-year extension with the ACC Tournament title. He also earned a $100,000 bonus for winning it.
He currently makes $2.7 million per year with $1.35 in base salary. With the ACC Tournament victory, Keatts' supplemental compensation was increased by $400,000. That figure would bump up to $500,000 if the Wolfpack reached the Final Four or $600,000 if the NC State won the national title.
Keatts' contract includes bonuses for reaching the NCAA Tournament and for advancing in it. The NCAA Tournament bonuses are not cumulative, so he only receives the highest bonus. By reaching the Round of 32, Keatts earned a $50,000 bonus. With another victory, that bonus will be $100,000.
His contract includes increasing bonuses for reaching the Sweet 16 ($100,000), the Elite Eight ($150,000), the Final Four ($200,000) and the national championship game ($250,000) and for winning the national title ($400,000).
Keatts can earn a maximum of $850,000 in team achievement bonuses in a single year. He can also earn up to $300,000 in academic achievement bonuses in a year.
